Fallen Petal
by Kuro Warau
Summary: Natural enemies, unlikeliest of friends, impossible lovers. And yet...
1. Two Worlds

**Fallen Petal**

_by Kuro Warau_

**Rating: **M

**Summary: **Natural enemies, unlikeliest of friends, impossible lovers. And yet…

**Warnings: **AU. Yaoi/boyxboy relationships. Lemons. Non-con. Very dark themes such as war and massacres. Graphic depictions of torture and violence.

**Pairings: **Mainly Kaname x Zero, Zero x Kaname. But there are many other pairings as well, both yaoi and het pairings.

**A/N: **This story is AU, so many important aspects of the original VK storyline are missing or changed. As a guideline, all events that have occurred since the time of Juuri's and Haruka's deaths in VK is at least changed in one way or another and many don't happen at all.

For example, Shizuka never attacked the Kiryuu's place four years prior to the storyline's start, so although Zero's parents have died, he was never turned into a vampire, and thus, has a very different view on vampires in a whole as he has in the original story. Yes, he hates them, but that's more because of common view on them and his hatred is not very deep, since it's not on a personal level in the same way. His parents were killed by vampires, but he wasn't present.

Another example is that Cross Academy was never founded since Cross is a "homewife" (sorry for the term used) and since no vampires are accepted there, there's no reason for him to push through with anything. That means that all the students who meet through Cross Academy have, for the most part, never met.

Also, please heed the warnings for this story. It'll be very violent as it is depicting a world struck by a long-lasting war between hunters and vampires. I'm trying to make it as realistic to real horrible war actions as possible, while also depicting the special features of a vampire-hunter war.

**Disclaimer: **Vampire Knight and all it's characters do not belong to me, but to their creator Hino Matsuri. I'm only burrowing them without permission but with great love for the series. This story is meant for entertainment purposes and I'm not earning any money from it.

**Chapter One: Two Worlds**

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It had started ten years ago, with intense and organized hunts for vampires of every level, gender and age after an attempt to control the humans from the vampires' side. It was impossible to escape and almost impossible to hide. The hunters had forced their way through the streets, killing every vampire in sight. For more than five years, the hunt on vampires had spread them wide apart, those few that were left. However, they had finally regrouped and for the last four years, the slaughtering had been a war instead.

Kaname carefully grasped the bullet with delicate fingers, taking caution not to touch the still bleeding wound area more than highly necessary. Slowly, he lifted it out of the wound and put the bullet beside him, cleaning the wound with a wet cloth. Yuuki gritted her teeth, but neither cried nor screamed. It was almost a routine to take bullets poisoned with hunter drugs out of bleeding wounds.

Kaname made sure to put a bandage around Yuuki's arm, the drugs made even pureblooded healing slow down significantly. His sister followed him downstairs to the other vampires gathered. All of them were simply waiting for instructions. An entire city of vampires, all of them waiting for a chance to infiltrate hunter territory.

The two sides of this war, the hunters and the vampires, controlled different parts of Japan and had for the past years continuously attacked each other in an attempt to dominate more land. The vampires' territory was hopelessly small compared to the hunters', though. The entire reason that the vampires' territory was located in Japan was that it was here that the conflict had started, although it had quickly spread to become a global killing spree.

The last vampires, the only vampires to escape, had all fled to the large island, Hokkaido, which, in a sense, had now become a land of vampires, cut off from the rest of the world. Somehow, although the rest of the world still had what was regarded as different countries, they were all united against this single, small civilization of vampires left on a single, somewhat small island.

Kaname's life had not been easy for the past ten years, but it had been better ever since he arrived at Hokkaido. Here, he had a house, he had food almost every day and he had created a living for him and his sister. They were all that was left of their family, but that was okay, as long as they just had each other.

Together, they soon left the so-called hospital and headed home. It was not really a real hospital, but more a place to clean wounds, remove bullets and see who was still alive. It was a quite big house on the outskirts of the safe area, so it was where vampires naturally gathered after arriving at the port in Hakodate.

The siblings lived in a small house, on the second floor because the two lowest floors were in a state not suited for inhabitants. All of Hokkaido had once been a part of the hunter territories too, so when the hunters realized that the vampires were moving forward towards Sapporo in one, big group and reclaimed territory bit by bit, they had destroyed as much as possible so nothing would be left for the vampires. Even now, many buildings still stood in ruin, because the vampires were focused on surviving and had no time for rebuilding anything during a war.

Yuuki put down her overcoat and found her mother's necklace from one of her pockets. She'd carried that necklace for nine years, since she'd taken it out of her mother's dead hand. Inside, there was a picture of their family, mother and father, Kaname and Yuuki, together. She knew it hurt her immensely when she looked at it, but she'd never let it go.

Kaname was preparing dinner, a warm soup of potatoes and a little meat. It's scent filled the rooms. They didn't have many resources, but the vampires who weren't at the front fighting, lived in the middle of the island, making the food they could from what little was available and sending it down to the cities that were inhabited by vampires who fought every day.

They ate in silence. Yuuki's wound was starting to hurt slightly, but she didn't bother walking all the way back to the infirmary for some painkillers. Transportation in another way than on your own two feet was a rare thing on land. Vampires and hunters fought each other by sailing between the island and the main land, but on a somewhat small island with little electricity, there wasn't anything. If you were lucky, you could catch a truck driving between cities.

The vampires themselves had also made the situation worse by using anything they could find to make their own homes better, which meant that the roads even inside the biggest cities were in a poor condition, there was almost no asphalt left. In the winter, the frost destroyed what was left bit by bit. They truly lived in a world destroyed by war and countless massacres.

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Zero pushed the food around on his plate. He wasn't in the mood for eating anything, even if he was dying of hunger. It was the year-day for his parents' deaths and he was in a depressed mood. He was tired of it all. Of the war, of fighting against vampires, of eating the same tasteless food day after day. Sometimes he was even tired of living.

He, his master, his brother and his foster father owned a small house close to the harbor in Mutsu, one of the cities laying closest to Hokkaido. Both he, Ichiru and Yagari were often in an open fight with the vampires on the other side of the waters. Only his foster father, Cross Kaien, always stayed home, no matter how badly his help was needed. He never hid that he thought everything about this war was disgusting and, even worse, he openly blamed the hunters for it all.

Most people around ignored him or made fun of him for his view on the war and on vampires all in all, but Zero, although not foolish enough to voice it, knew deep inside that he would have been of the same opinion if he had experienced what Cross had.

When the last vampires of their old home-town nine years ago had been killed, some sort of misplaced calm fell over everyone. There was no one left to kill. The hunters made records of what vampires were dead and counted up who could possibly still be out there. In the area where Zero, his family, Yagari and Cross lived, it was understood that all vampires either had died or run away, but information lacked concerning the famous Kuran family, who were old friends of Cross.

The hunters were very interested in the Kuran family because they were all purebloods and therefore strong. The head of the family, Kuran Haruka, had been killed already in the first waves of killings, but Kuran Juuri and the couple's two children were missing. They had escaped when hunters set their house on fire after taking everything they wanted.

Hunters had asked everywhere after Kuran Juuri and the children, about if anyone had seen or talked with them, but no one knew anything. Therefore, the hunters decided to search through all the houses that they hadn't already. Every person, hunter or human, who was suspected of sympathizing with the vampires, received a visit. The hunters had long wished to search through Zero's house, because of Cross's obvious kindness towards the vampires, but they hadn't dared because they were afraid that Yagari and the Kiryuus might have weapons inside.

To appear strong and untouchable, they met up outside the house in great number and shouted that Zero's family should throw the Kurans out to them before they went in after the vampires themselves. They were perhaps a hundred people or more, but because they were known to steal, Yagari picked out three of them to search the house. It was a great disappointment for them when they understood that Zero's family wasn't hiding Juuri and her children.

While one group searched through the house, another group searched through the nearby forests and fields.

Zero heard when they found her. "We've found it," it suddenly echoed down over the fields. The hunters outside the house rejoiced and ran towards the place of the capture. It was a field a single hill away, close enough to be of hearing range. The female vampire knew what was going to happen and begged for permission to see Cross one last time, but they didn't oblige her. She was tortured and killed in the most devious manner, close enough to enable Zero to hear every scream.

That night, he would have liked to be able to read minds. What had Cross been thinking the second he heard someone yell "we've found it" about a person he cared for? He was inconsolable and depressed for months and only took comfort in the fact that they never managed to find the children.

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Kaname blinked against the sharp sunlight of morning. He would have liked to have real curtains in front of the window, but fabric was sparse in vampire territory and he had to go without. There were many things that he had to go without, but in one way or another, he always found a way. A tarpaulin was hung up in place over most windows. It kept some of the sunlight out.

He only vaguely remembered a different life with a big house and extravagant furnishings, delicious food and gorgeous clothing. Kaname wasn't a materialistic person and had he got all those things now suddenly, it was unlikely that he'd know what to do with it. Although some new clothes and furniture that hadn't been half-destroyed by hunters was one thing he missed dearly.

The siblings' schedule was almost the same every day. Waking up early, since the light irritated their sensitive eyes as soon as the sun rose. Eating breakfast, usually a sticky porridge made of wheat. Then either off to the ports, where small boats took vampires to the other side for fighting, or simply outside of the safe area if it was one of the days where hunters sailed to the vampire territory instead. In the evening, or when one of them had been injured too badly to continue, they returned to the "hospital" and took care of each other's wounds. Then home for dinner and early to bed, exhausted from fighting an entire day yet again.

In reality, fighting was perhaps not the right word for it. Instead, they were patrolling streets, having to be prepared for sudden assaults. The hunters were known among vampires for taking prisoners and slowly torturing them to death afterwards. They had both weapons and drugs and often, vampires who patrolled alone or in small groups were assaulted by larger groups of hunters, drugged with hunter poisons and taken to the nearest hunter quarter for interrogation and torture.

Vampires almost never had the chance to take prisoners, since their weapons exclusively were their own bodies. They were faster, stronger and often smarter than the hunters seen from a strategic viewpoint, but they had no weapons other than that. Besides, when hunters realized that they were trapped with no way of escape, they usually made short process and simply shot themselves in the head. Although their bullets were designed to hurt vampires, with their excessive amounts of hunter poisons contained within, a bullet to the head was fatal no matter it's contents.

For vampires, it was almost impossible to commit suicide, especially after a capture, since hunters went to great extents to insure that their prisoners survived, at least until they had had a chance to get information out of them. Vampires considered that the worst way to die. To first be tortured endlessly until the breaking point, then forced to betray family and friends and lastly killed as slowly and painfully as possible.

Kaname remembered the day the killings began clearly, even if he was only eight at the time. It started with the killing of the hunter president. She lived in the hunter association. Before the war, there had only been one, but the number had increased the last years. It had been discovered that her window was broken and the hunters had rushed up. She was found drained of blood with deep bite wounds on her neck.

An hour later, there were roadblocks on all main roads in all of Japan. Everyone got withheld and those who were vampires were killed on the spot. Hunters went to the Council Headquarters and burned it off. The most high-ranking nobles and purebloods that didn't escape immediately were killed during the first 24 hours.

In the course of only a month, all of Japan and large areas of Asia and Europe were cleared of vampires, at least officially. More than a million vampires had been killed and the rest of the world quickly followed the example and began chasing vampires. Although their existence weren't publically known before, hunters all over the world, together with the authorities kept records of where vampires lived and soon, the normal humans too had been informed and tagged along in the massacres.

Vampires of every gender, age and level were killed with hunter guns or even simple swords dipped in hunter poison. Everywhere where vampires had connections to the human world, they were in danger of getting exposed. Nobles who had dealings with human companies got killed at meetings, vampire teachers who held lectures at schools and universities were killed by their students, even vampire children were at risk of getting killed if they had human friends. No one came to the vampires' rescue.

Hunters made others join in the killings by depicting vampires as savage beasts who killed people in their sleep and sucked the blood from their veins, abducted their children and even feasted on each other. The irony of this saying was that now, vampires had little alternative than drinking from each other simply because there were no humans around. The blood tablets that they'd once been so close to achieving were now an unreachable goal. Sometimes, vampires took blood from dead hunters or humans on the mainland when they roamed the streets, but else, they were forced to drink from each other exclusively, something that almost all vampires had always thought to be disgusting. You didn't drink from another vampire for feeding reasons, it was something intimate that were considered much like a kiss. Drinking from humans was finding food and nutrition. Drinking from other vampires was a form of sexual contact.

After breakfast, Kaname and Yuuki made their way to the end of the safe area, waiting for instructions. The safe area was the part of Hokkaido where hunters had never reached after the vampires had taken over and as such, it was the area where vampires could relax and didn't need to be alert. Outside the safe area, closer to the shores, it was only the vampires who were on their way to be sailed over to the other side that gathered.

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Zero wandered around aimlessly in the empty streets, never letting his guard slip for a single second, but not as completely indulged in the frenzy of the hunt as he usually was. In these territories, not much more than lawless districts where the war raged, you wouldn't last long if you let your guard down, even for a second. Vampires were fast as lightning and if they got hold of you, you were as good as lost.

Zero had heard frightening stories of hunters who were disarmed by the beasts before they had time to pull the trigger. Not many, but enough to leave a blueprint of fear in every hunter around. Stories of hunters who were captured alive, brought to their hellish bit of land and then killed in different ways after the interrogation, in whatever way the vampires deemed appropriate. The cold-blooded beasts even used rape as an interrogation form.

Suddenly, a sound from behind caught Zero's attention and he turned in a rush. He'd let his mind wander, let his small train of thoughts unsettle him. Bad idea. He reminded himself over and over to always stay alert, especially when a boat of vampires supposedly should have arrived here earlier today. If that was true, it meant that there was a large group of vampires roaming these streets right now, perhaps between thirty and fifty if it had been a huge boat.

Zero's hunter senses informed him that a vampire was nearby and he put even more effort in his senses now. No use being caught off guard. And yet, somehow, he fell back in his thoughts after a couple of minutes with no apparent danger. When thinking about it, hunters didn't treat their prisoners mildly either, but that was something else entirely. Not less than what the beasts deserved.

That was why he should be on-guard anyways. If a vampire caught a hunter, they wouldn't hesitate to kill and drink. Perhaps, even worse, drink first and kill afterwards. Zero couldn't imagine anything else than that it must be the most painful thing in the world to get bitten by a vampire.

He turned the next corner, and the next. And then, the scent and presence of a high-ranking vampire reached him, tenfold the strength it had before. It washed down over him in waves and he only had time to turn around before standing face to face with the beast.

In a split-second, the vampire held Zero up against the wall by his throat in one hand, the other used to force Zero's Bloody Rose away from the vampire's head. In his mind, the hunter cursed himself for not reacting fast enough, although he realized that the vampire nearly squeezing the life out of him was a pureblood. _Strange. There couldn't be many purebloods left nowadays._

Purebloods had always been a relatively small group of elite vampires, but they had also been targeted first when the killings started, so naturally, hunters had assumed that they had finally exterminated them, _the elite vermin._ There were only three purebloods known to have escaped the killings, and now, Zero was facing one of them, looking directly into his garnet eyes.

The pureblood was breathing erratically through his teeth, the dirt on his hands and face mixing with blood running from a wound to his left temple. The wound itself was half hidden by the dark brown hair that framed a most androgynous face, although it was contorted in rage.

Those garnet eyes _burned _with untamed rage and murderous intent. Zero felt a cold shiver down his back, but else just closed his eyes and waited for inevitability. The vampire held his gun away, aiming it onto the pavement of the street. Might as well die without somehow triggering the vampire into being sadistic with him.

The seconds passed, the only sound being the pureblood's continued ragged breath. No tightening around his throat, no bite, no insulting words. Nothing. Slowly, Zero opened his eyes a little, watching the vampire's face from behind his eyelashes. The angered face had now disappeared, leaving behind a puzzled look as the vampire observed him.

Zero dared opening his eyes fully, taking time only now to get a picture of how the pureblood looked.

He was undeniably beautiful, like most vampires. His eyes had the color of garnet jewels and looked both knowing and innocent. His mouth quivered with each breath, exposed the glory of perfectly sculpted, rosy lips, although his fangs had extended from the fury that burned in him a moment ago and now further complicated his breathing. He was lean, yet strong and beautiful in build.

But his hair was mixed with his own blood, his face, hands, clothes, everything was dirtied throughout and everything he was wearing carried signs that he hadn't changed them in a very long time. His hand that held onto Zero's throat in a tight grip seemed to shiver slightly, another indication that he had run quite a bit before catching up to the young hunter.

His expression though, was what puzzled the most. He clearly looked taken aback, and Zero got the feeling that he was observing the hunter in much the same way as he was observing the pureblood. Zero's silvery eyes met with his garnet ones for only a second before an enraged shout echoed from a street not far away.

"His scent leads this way! Come on, it's a big catch this time!"

For a moment, the vampire looked back the way he'd come from, then he released Zero's neck and let go of him, running at break-neck speed down the next side street. His dark jacket disappeared quickly in the dust.

Zero was thrown backwards the moment the vampire released his hold and ended up falling into some old wooden boxes that collapsed under the impact. One of the broken chunks of tree bored into Zero's arm, another scraped his forehead, but it was nothing that really hurt and, strangely enough, Zero was left with the impression that it was merely an accident when the vampire released him, not a considered act to cause him pain.

For a second, he merely stared after the disappearing back of the pureblood, then the hunter patrol that chased after him caught up, and Zero was lifted up from the destroyed boxes. Takamiya Kaito, a childhood "friend" of Zero's, who lived in the house next to him now, stayed back to examine the wounds to Zero's arm and forehead while the others continued the chase.

"Geez, Zero, why don't you go after a pack of nobles alone, now you're at it?" he asked sarcastically, while cleaning the wound on the young hunter's head with a piece of clothing from his back pocket. Zero and Kaito had never been, and would probably never be, best friends, but they still went on hunts together and considered each other much as if they were cousins who didn't get along very well. Kaito detested Zero's sometimes foul mood and considered him stupid because he was so blindly devoted to a frail brother. Zero, on the other hand, couldn't accept Kaito's view of his brother or on anyone weaker than the average hunter, and found his zeal in being cruel to vampires highly disgusting.

"You should be dead, you know," Kaito continued, observing the wood still stuck in Zero's arm in hopes of finding a solution for getting it out. Zero barely noticed him. He just looked in the direction the pureblood had run.

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_To be continued…_


	2. Turn Your Eyes Away

**Fallen Petal**

_by Kuro Warau_

**A/N: **I'm very sorry for the long wait. I have had a running assignment for school, but I'm afraid that can't take the entire blame. I hope you all haven't lost interest in this story. And I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

As for the location of the Kuran Manor, since the original manga is completely uncertain about time and location of Vampire Knight, I use city and area names from Japan, since I figured that they speak Japanese. Kyoto was chosen, since it's the old emperor city.

As for the names of Aidou's sisters, Tsukiko is the only name given in the manga, but it is shown that he have three older sisters. I just invented the names for the other two. Hanako is "flower child", while Mariko is "circle". Tsukiko means "moon child". And by Tanaka, I mean the Aidou family's butler or servant or whatever he is, who is shown at Aidou's residence during the holiday in chapter 28-29.

**Chapter Two: Turn Your Eyes Away**

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Yuuki once again pressed all the water out of her cloth with tender hands before dapping it against her brother's temple, slowly cleaning the blood away. It had loosened from the skin by this point and the small bowl of water that stood on the end table was filled with red. "What did you do to end up like this?" she asked, bathing the cloth again.

"Well…" Kaname answered hesitantly, "there was a group of them and they got track of me before I got track of them, due to the wind. They had hoped this would be a killing shot, so they weren't ready to deliver a second, which gave me time to run. And then there was a boy…" Kaname's voice faded away, when he lost concentration. Yuuki observed him with a small smile. Then she turned and spoke to a couple of nobles in the other end of the room.

"Hanabusa, Takuma, now you better hurry. It seems Kaname's got a boyfriend," she remarked in a lovingly mocking tone and turned back to the work of cleaning her brother's temple. Kaname jokingly pretended to sulk, but when he saw the nobles' gazes, he thought he might as well defend himself. "Yuuki. He's not a boyfriend, but a guy, a hunter no less, that I just happened to run into and who just happened to look so innocent and inexperienced that I let him live."

Yuuki, as always, understood. She knew that Kaname, perhaps less than any other here, would like to be called "hunterlover", even in fun. She hadn't been old when they escaped, so her memories of that time were hazy. Kaname, on the other hand, had seen the terrors of war and massacre all too close. So had both Aidou Hanabusa and Ichijo Takuma, two of Kaname's old friends. They even knew each other from before everything got turned upside down.

Ichijo Takuma was a childhood friend, the same age as Kaname and, in extension of that, an obvious target of Juuri's desire to create friends for Kaname in his own age group. That Takuma had survived in the first place was almost a miracle in itself, much like the case with Kaname and Yuuki. Takuma's grandfather had been leader of the Vampire Council and, naturally, it was such high-ranking nobles and purebloods that the hunters targeted first. In fact, the Ichijo Estate had been one of the first places the hunters went and it had been overrun only a couple of hours after the Hunter President was found. Takuma had only made it because he was absent from home when the attack occurred and, after being informed of what had happened, had luck to escape.

Aidou Hanabusa was a noble of very good family, although he was the only one still alive by now. He and Kaname had met when the Kuran couple had business with the Aidou family head, Hanabusa's father. At that point, Hanabusa hadn't been overly kind to Kaname, but later, in the forest, they had met again and ever since then, they had established a very strong friendship. Hanabusa was fiercely loyal to Kaname, and in return, Kaname cared deeply for Hanabusa. Yuuki also knew Hanabusa well, they had accompanied each other most of the way through the forest and seen friends and family die around them. The three of them were the only ones who had managed to escape the crushing grip of the escape.

Both of them lived in apartments not too long away from the siblings' and naturally, they met often and accompanied each other in patrolling. Aidou was carefully pressing a wet cloth against a split eyebrow, almost afraid to touch it. He grimaced every time the cloth made contact with the flesh and breathed out through gritted teeth.

"Hanabusa, what did you do to end up with that?" Yuuki asked, still keeping her eyes down on her brother's forehead. "A too close encounter with a hunter?"

Ichijo suppressed a grin, the laugh coming out as a muffled sound. Aidou's eyes shot lightening in the green-eyed noble's direction, but when Ichijo noticed Yuuki's questioning gaze, he continued. "No… More like a too close encounter with a branch of the tree outside," Takuma explained, nodding towards the open window and the tall tree outside.

Yuuki turned her gaze back towards her brother with a smile, noticing how it pulled slightly in the corner of Kaname's mouth, but the older pureblood didn't make a sound. He knew how highly Aidou put his dignity, especially when it came to the pureblood's opinion.

Ever since Kaname had taken care of Aidou after his sister's death, Hanabusa had looked up to the pureblood in a drastic adoration that was sometimes warming and sometimes irritating to the pureblood. Ichijo, on the other hand, had a less formal relation to Kaname, they were seeing each other as equal. They were close friends, whereas Aidou and Kaname's relation more was that of worship from one side and care from the other.

Before the massacres started, vampires had been divided in sections, split by levels and political beliefs. There had been four main groups, consisting of the purebloods, the "pureblood-minded" nobles and common vampires, the "council-minded" nobles and common vampires and the ex-humans, who had little insight into the political system and life of vampire society. Most purebloods minded their own business and left it to the nobles and commoners to fight over politics. The Kuran family was the only purebloods to care about politics, probably because they were a central part of the fight itself. Those who were "pureblood-minded" wanted a return to the monarchy of earlier days, which meant that they wanted the Kuran family to govern vampire society.

But now, no such things as division coursed by political belief existed. Since there technically didn't exist a political system between the vampires anymore, there was no need for such problems. Even without a political system, it worked fine between the vampires, they were all united in a shared hatred towards the rest of the world, basically, towards those who took their lives and their loved ones away from them. The three purebloods still alive made up such a small part of the vampires that levels mattered less than before, although they were still present, as it was something biological that was impossible to undermine. It was any vampire's natural reaction and response to protect, respect and fear purebloods, and that instinct couldn't be changed because of a changed way of life.

"All done," Yuuki announced and squeezed the last blood out of her wash cloth. She really just wanted to get back to the apartment and rest a little, perhaps to get something to eat. Her brownish eyes took on a red undertone as she poured out the bloodied water of the bowl. It was weeks since she'd last had any blood, apart from a not very satisfying feeding from a hunter on the mainland that had already died. Vampires saw it as highly disgusting and vile to feed off dead blood, but she hadn't been able to hold herself back.

Kaname took her home.

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"Just a little more. I can almost see the end of the wood now," Kaito announced, giving the wooden stick in Zero's arm yet another careful pull. The younger of the two grimaced every time he yanked on it, but else looked like he was thinking of something else.

"Master, how did hunters organize themselves when they went hunting for vampires? They were so swift. How come the vampires could regroup?" he asked, supporting his head in one hand and having the other arm stretched out to his side to grant Kaito access to the hurting area. Yagari was sitting across from him, in the midst of the time-consuming process of counting and organizing bullets.

"Well, when the President was found, word quickly got out to the entire hunter community. It was important to begin quickly so the vampires wouldn't have time to leave. Such shouldn't go unpunished," he explained, not looking up from his work, but following the out pulling of the wood from the corner of his eyes.

"But… surely not all of the vampires were guilty of killing the President." Zero inhaled sharply as Kaito finally gave the wood one last, hard yank and it got out. Kaito cleaned off the wound with an antiseptic mixture that they always used to clean such wounds so they wouldn't get infected. "Well… no, of course not. But you've never seemed to understand that the reason why some of them did it, was because all of them are in a certain way. They're all alike," Yagari fought to explain. "They're not human. They're a strange combination of new, better adaptations and old, primitive instincts."

Vampires evolved some thousands years ago, during a period where the numbers of humans fell drastically due to climatic changes. Evolution is natural selection, but during extinctions, the natural selection is even higher, since it's only the very best suited who survives. Vampires were perfectly suited to outlive the climatic changes.

Physically, they were so much alike humans that it allowed them to breed. The males were tall, usually over 175 cm, and the females a little lower. They had a slender built, with long limps, and they were strong and fast. They had a well-functioning immune system that could fight down almost everything.

But the real difference lay in their blood and in their brains. They were intelligent, imaginative and, first and foremost, their brains worked incredibly fast because of their heightened senses. The ones with the purest blood were gifted with unimaginable powers. The purer the blood, the stronger the vampire. The ones with completely unsoiled bloodlines, the purebloods, were akin to gods, revered and feared by other vampires.

During the war, the hunters had been successful in erasing almost all of those vile beings from the face of the earth. And yet, three had escaped. Once, they'd almost had one of them but she had managed to run away and escape at last minute. And another had encountered Zero today.

The first purebloods and high-rise nobles were killed with bullets. In a fair fight up close between a hunter and a pureblood, the hunter didn't stand many chances. But after some time, after all the vampires had scattered and fled into the woods, those purebloods or nobles that were captured were usually slowly tortured to death.

Some were killed by knives and sword. The hunters considered it a waste of bullets to shoot a prisoner and at the same time, it provided public entertainment. Since vampires weren't considered to have feelings or be on the same level as humans, in any way, it was not considered cruel or merciless to treat them like that. It was merely a good sport and nice entertainment.

Some years ago, Kaito had pulled Zero along to such an event, but he'd never really been able to see what was so fun about the blood and the screams and, while not directly pitying the vampire, had just wished that they'd put an end to the creature and stop playing around. After that, he'd never allowed himself to be coaxed to go witness such a thing again.

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"Yuuki, mind giving me the spoon?" Kaname asked, his face red from the warmth of the fire. As electricity was sparse to say the least, the only way to warm food up was to cook it over a small fire and regulate the amount of wood. The steam made the pureblood's head overheated.

On a positive note though, vampires had quickly learned themselves to make very practical lights. The stearin burned slowly, which was good, because stearin was hard to make in the middle of a war, so it was hard to get a new candle, but it was the only source of light after dark.

"Kaname… I was wondering… Do you know where we buried that box? You know, the one you're always talking about," Yuuki asked, fingering her necklace tentatively while waiting for dinner. Kaname lifted the food off the heat, letting it burn on for additional lighting. The spoon moved around in the make-believe stew as he checked if everything was done. "Of course I do, Yuuki. How could I forget?"

She looked up at him with trusting, brown eyes. "Can't we go pick it up then? I'd like to see it. I don't remember how it looked." Kaname closed his eyes in remorse. Yuuki could sometimes be rather naïve and often, her sense of logic was overruled by her zeal.

"Yuuki… we buried that box on your fifth birthday. It's on the mainland. We can't go that far from the island. That's suicide." He poured the stew into two bowls and served it. Yuuki sat across from him, her face showing her heartbreak. It was clear that she'd never considered that that box was lost for good. Kaname reached a hand over the table to lay over hers. "I'm sorry, Yuuki. I thought you'd considered that. I… I really want it back too, but… we lived very, very far away from Hokkaido before."

"Yes…" her eyes shone with unshed tears. "I hadn't considered that. I wish I could recall the house I was born in…" Her eyes suddenly lit up. "How was it, Kaname? Please tell me, I love when you talk about it." Kaname smiled gently, then gestured for her to start eating while it was warm.

"Well… Your grandfather built the house you were born in. I've never met him, but I know that he owned a big piece of land in Kyoto, and that he continually build estates for the Kuran family there through centuries. Your parents were born in one of those houses as well. After your grandparents died, they took over the management of the estates. Some fifteen years ago, you were born in the main estate. Your father was the leader of vampire society, together with your mother. They were siblings, like us." Kaname stopped to smile at Yuuki's bright smile. She loved when he told her everything, even though she'd heard it a million times already.

"Haruka told me that both him and his brother had went to a real school, and that he'd been the best, but I suppose you can say that there was a bit of a rivalry between them, so if that's true, I don't know. At the time when the all three of them were young, all the higher educations were at boarding schools. After elementary school, if you wanted to go on, it was a boarding school. But since all the other students at these boarding schools were nobles or below, your grandparents didn't like to send their children there, so they were homeschooled after that."

"Juuri, on the contrary, didn't go in elementary school. Well, she did, but only for a week. She really looked forward to it, but one day she cut herself and all the nobles had stared at her wound, which frightened her. When she told her parents about it, they found it best that she didn't return. Purebloods are quite overprotective of their offspring. You, too, was a spoiled little girl," Kaname suppressed a smile at her look.

"After elementary school, your mother learned to sew and cook and all such things. She really loved being a home wife. She used to sew your clothes when you were a baby and I loved watching her sew and knit. Well, she really wanted an education, or perhaps, she really wanted a break from her family, so she asked her parents to let her attend a human university for three years. Of course, they said no. She had to plead with her grandparents, which was a breach in her honor, I think. But they let her, on the condition that Haruka accompanied her. She wasn't very happy for that. I think he was a tad clingy. But they fell in love during those three years."

"After your grandparents died, Haruka and Juuri moved into Kuran Manor. They were newlyweds, I think. When they finally decided to have children, they had been married for centuries. When I was three, you were born. I remember that I loved watching when Juuri breastfed you. Then you lay and suckled so eagerly, looking at me with big, clear eyes," Kaname smiled at the memory and Yuuki smiled too, happy to hear Kaname talk of her own childhood.

"When I was seven, Juuri talked Haruka into sending me to a school for nobles. She was very interested in finding some friends of my own age for me. In the end of first grade, I was going to a final test and it was so important for you that I would do great. The test was ended with a presentation, where every student got their grades for some creative product. Juuri wanted me to make a small blanket myself, but I couldn't figure out how to do it and besides, I didn't care much. I wasn't interested in grades. So, when the finishing date neared, and I still hadn't made anything worth presenting, you got worried. You tried to tell your mother that you'd really like if I passed with a good grade and that I needed help. Juuri wasn't pleased, but either way, she made a small, nice blanket for me. It was perfect and I got a good grade."

"Both parents and children attended the last school day to get the grades presented. Haruka tagged along and when my name was said on a shared first place together with Aidou's sister, Tsukiko, he later said that he got so proud. And when I got home, you got happy to hear about it too. You laughed and looked so proud. And of course you also told Juuri how you were right that I'd needed a little help. Although, of course, since Juuri had helped me and since I'm a pureblood, it wasn't completely fair, but you didn't care," Kaname explained, cleaning the dishes in a bowl of water. Yuuki was walking around, putting all the lights out.

They had few possessions, no electricity and they had to be careful not to burn more stearin than highly necessary. Besides, the patrolling and sailing back and forth every day was exhausting, so after dinner, there wasn't much else to do than go to sleep.

The beds were made up of two old mattresses, some old pillows and some rough, linen sacks that they'd split to make duvets. Yuuki would sometimes dream about the house she could barely remember, but still very much loved. Just to think of the luxury of a soft bed that wasn't slightly damp because the house wasn't isolated. Or how nice it would be to eat something else than the tasteless, protein-filled nothingness day after day.

Pitch-black darkness invaded the room as she put out the last light and went to her bed. She looked out the window, out at the moon and stars. Like usual, she wondered if she'd be looking at the moon tomorrow evening. She thought about what Kaname'd said, but while she loved the stories he'd tell, she had little opportunity to think of them as other than just that – stories.

She could barely remember about her mother or her father, or a life that was any different than this. She could vaguely remember the sense of the rooms she once lived in, but apart from that, imagining another place than this only brought the memories of the forest, which sadly hadn't vanished in the same way. She remembered the feeling of walking, merely walking, endlessly followed Kaname, Aidou and the others while the flow of vampires fleeing into the forest got smaller and smaller. Their own group, too, disappeared little by little. They died of attacks from hunters, of lack of food, water or blood or from diseases that their broken immune system couldn't handle as usual.

Of a huge group of young vampires, only the four of them, Kaname, Yuuki, Hanabusa and Takuma, had managed to escape. Although… in truth nothing was certain. Neither of them knew anything definite concerning their loved ones, the ones of them who were still alive during the escape. They just knew that all these people weren't on Hokkaido now. And there was no other place for a vampire to be.

"Kaname… What happened to Aidou Tsukiko?" she asked lowly, knowing from his breathing that he didn't sleep yet. He turned around on the bed, facing her. "I don't think we should talk about this, Yuuki," he mumbled lowly, almost regretfully.

"Please," she pressed, her thoughts wandering to the vague memories of a smiling, blonde-haired girl with big blue eyes, who held her hand when she became tired of walking. And when they stopped to put up an old tarpaulin as cover for the sun, so they could sleep during the day, she would help Yuuki putting up a mattress and then run her fingers through the brown hair and whisper _"Yuuki-sama… how are you doing?"_

Kaname was silent for a second, before he apparently decided to share his knowledge. "Yuuki… we left her in the forest. You remember that, right? Kain told me, that I was sick to think that way. I'm sure I was, but for me I had to be cruel and heartless to protect you. You were the most important for me. But she stayed with her sisters. Her oldest sister was very ill, she couldn't walk fast. I knew we had to speed up to reach the bridge before the hunters closed it. So I acted in cold blood and left her, and those who wanted to stay with her, behind."

Kaname's eyes were steely, but it was clear that he despised himself for that. He understood, perhaps better than any, the egoism that was the natural follow of the struggle for survival. Yuuki knew that what he did saved the rest of them. And yet, even though they were five people splitting up from the main group, only three of them had made it out. Takuma hadn't joined the group at that time, still walking around on his own, utterly lost, simply following the flow.

What later happened to Tsukiko, her two older sisters, Mariko and Hanako, Senri and his mother, Rima, Seiren and Tanaka, no one knew, but Kaname was sure that the forest and cruel forces had claimed them.

Two days after they'd crossed the bridge, vampires had come running past them, explaining that the hunters had closed the bridge, capturing the remaining vampires in the forest, and had killed every vampire near. With bullets or, more commonly, katanas or small knives.

"Go to sleep, Yuuki."

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Zero yawned, stretching up to reach the lamp's switch and turn it off. He put down his book on a side table, got down under the duvet and reached a hand over to the other bed to stroke his brother's hair reassuringly. Ichiru was already fast asleep. His health was frail, so even though he patrolled too, it was for shorter time and he was completely exhausted when he returned. Zero was walking around with a constant fear, when he was patrolling, not believing that he'd have many changes if he encountered a strong vampire.

But Ichiru insisted on joining as best he could, he didn't want to be left behind when Yagari, Kaito and Zero went. And Zero couldn't say no. He never could.

Zero withdrew his hand and instead moved it to his arm, feeling the bandage around the wound left by the wood. His thoughts wandered back to the bright garnet eyes. _Are you a demon or a person?_

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_To be continued…_


	3. The Web

**Fallen Petal**

_by Kuro Warau_

**A/N: **So sorry for the long, long wait. I know… I promised I'd get it out faster than the last and it ended up being longer time, so I won't promise something new. Only to try my best.

**Chapter Three: The Web**

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Kaname ran until it felt like he's heart would explode in his chest. Until his lungs, already heaving for air, felt like they were dry sandpaper. Until his legs, already so tired, felt like they could break down under him any moment. _Just a little longer. I can press myself more._

And yet, it wasn't nearly fast enough, he could feel that. The hunter behind him was gaining on him, soon close enough to shoot at him. And there was nothing Kaname could do to escape. Once a vampire was discovered, the hunters took turns pursuing it until they'd run the vampire tired enough for capture or, at least, so tired that they could come close enough for shooting.

He placed one foot in front of the other, running at break neck speed that only a pureblood could hope to match… in the beginning. Now he was running at the speed of a normal vampire, still fast enough that he wouldn't be completely caught up to, but not fast enough to escape a well-placed bullet if the hunter just got close enough.

He ran until he was disorientated and utterly unable to even think over why he was running so furiously forward. And still, he heard the dreadful sound of a gun loading somewhere behind him. Still, he merely continued run, before his sensitive ears picked up on the clicking of the gun.

An immense pain spread through his shoulder a second later. He stopped, clutching his own, bleeding shoulder while his face contracted in pain. Knowing he couldn't run in this condition anymore, he simply turned around to face the hunter advancing upon him. His fangs extended due to the blood which now poured freely out of him. The hunter poison spread in his blood, causing him additional pain and immobility.

The hunter neared him with a smirk. Kaname pressed himself backwards, trying to back away like a wounded animal until his back hit the wall behind him. He bowed down, hissing and baring his fangs. The hunter neared his prey, pointing the gun at his head. Kaname, though knowing he could expect a fatal bullet every second now, saw a small chance though. This hunter was so taken with his own success and pride that he was becoming dangerously unobservant.

One of the advantages of Kaname's pureblood brain was that it was designed to grant him the best possible chances of survival in a given situation. In a stressed situation, like the one he was currently in, his blood made sure to hold his brain clear. He was afraid, of course, but his rationally functioning brain didn't pay it much heed. He looked for a way to escape what seemed to be inevitable by now much in the same way as a bird nests. He didn't think of it, he just did it. His instincts were to always be ready to survive.

His deep eyes searched for just a second where the hunter would let his guard down. A second, that was all he needed. And it came.

Kaname gripped the gun's barrel in one hand, turning it away from himself and burying his suddenly extended talons in the hunter's stomach. He could feel the man's clothes and flesh give way satisfyingly to his claws. Kaname ripped him apart. He didn't want the blood though. As ravenous for blood as he was, he would never take the dead blood of a person he'd just killed himself. _You should have taken more care. You hunters, who think of us as wild beasts, nothing but animals. You should know it's dangerous to approach a wild beast once it's injured. Then the hunter will be the hunted._

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Zero made his way down the streets, all alone in body and mind. His hands grasped the gun tightly, but his concentration slipped all the time. At some point, a few minutes ago, he'd caught the feeling of a vampire and now followed it's trail of scent and aura. He couldn't be far from it.

The smell of blood hung in the air, low and heavy. When he turned the next corner, there was blood on the ground. A trail. The aura led Zero down the path of red, but the longer he followed it, the blood still on the ground in the same amount, the more he questioned. This much blood, surely the vampire must be half-dead when he found it.

The aura intensified, every step he took made it more prominent. The vampire had stopped moving, else the aura would keep on the same level. The blood on the ground led down another alleyway and into the tiny passage way between two houses. Some old boxes obscured his view, but there was no doubt that the vampire was here.

Sitting behind the boxes, curled up on the ground, clutching his bleeding shoulder and with his own mouth bathed in blood from his wrist. To Zero, he looked young, and yet not so. Though bathed in blood, his pale face and smooth skin was flawless. Those mesmerizing eyes looked up at him, cold with the hatred of someone who's convinced that they are looking into the eyes of their murderer. As he observed Zero with those deep eyes of his, the corner of his mouth curled up slightly in an ironic smile.

"So… we met again, hunter-san," he mumbled half-understandably. His voice was soft and melodic, a voice that fitted his face. "How ironic… now, you'll shoot me. Or shoot me a non-too-fatal place and drag me back to the other hunters to brag about your great catch… all because I let you go yesterday, thinking you were too innocent. Thinking that you had been sent out here too early in life… that you were just a child. What an awful miscalculation."

Zero had already pointed the gun at his head, but the surprise over just how _different _this vampire was didn't fail to make him hesitate. Instead of a bloodthirsty killer like the ones he had encountered before, like the ones he had been told about all his life, this was something akin to a sensible being, who didn't kill just because he had the opportunity and who clutched his arm because it hurt. The only way in which he really looked like a vampire was the blood in and around his mouth, though it was obviously his own.

"You bit yourself," Zero mumbled, only realizing too late that he clearly overstepped the borders of hunters and vampires alike. Firstly, it was a dumb thing to say and Zero didn't like that he'd humiliated himself in front of this creature, who, from the beginning, already thought himself so much better than the hunter. Secondly, for a hunter to speak to a vampire was completely unheard of, since in the mind of a hunter, vampires weren't humanoid beings, but wild animals.

The pureblood's ironic smile returned, looking down at his own bleeding wrist and feeling the blood in the corners of his mouth. The blood flowed down his arm, joining forces with the blood from his injured shoulder around his elbow. "I'm afraid I have no handy gun. This… is my failed attempt at trying to rush the process of my body shattering from loss of blood. But I'm unfortunately a pureblood…"

Zero was taken aback, but refused to let his guard slip. _Arrogant pureblood, you're just trying to distract me._

His gaze darted away, but then found Zero's eyes again, this time deep and sincere. Zero felt like he could see kilometer after kilometer into those dark orbs and see nothing but despair. "This might be… a most stupid thing to say and highly possibly very counterproductive and humiliating and all that, but… apart from being a hunter, you don't seem overly cruel, so I'll try my luck at asking you a favor…" There was a sincerity in the vampire's eyes that was unlike anything Zero had seen before with a vampire. He was obviously choosing this as his very last option.

"It's stupid for a vampire to expect kindness from a hunter, but, please… shoot me. I don't want to be dragged back to a nest of hunters…" His garnet eyes darted away and eventually closed, an obvious sign of defeat. He didn't for one moment think that Zero would truly do as asked, that was obvious. He looked like he really, truly regretted asking and thus, admitting that he was afraid.

But it was true what the pureblood'd said. Zero couldn't have it on him that he had a cruel nature. He was not afraid to do his job when required, but then again, this vampire would probably die from bloodloss soon, right? In his current state he wasn't really a threat, was he? And if he wasn't a threat, then why should Zero waste precious time and bullets on him? It wasn't required, was it?

In a horribly stupid, overly reckless moment of complete mindlessness, Zero lowered the gun from the vampire's head. The pureblood still had his eyes closed, but when he heard the clattering of the chain against the gun, he looked up.

The initial shock of seeing Zero standing there, completely defenseless on purpose shattered the pureblood's carefully crafted façade for a precious second. His eyes widen and he looked at Zero with a mystified and shocked face. He looked so innocent and pure that it rocked Zero to the core. The magical moment was over in a second, but it was enough to convince him that he made the right decision. It was enough to convince him that it was not right for this vampire to die. At least this vampire was different. At least this vampire was, in one way or another, not worthy of being called a savage beast devoid of emotion and feelings.

Zero was completely taken aback but this sudden realization. It was so different from all a hunter's belief that it came as a shock to him that he had no want to hurt the pureblood. It frightened him. He knew that vampires had killed his parents, had killed many of his friends, that they were evil beings. But there was just something about this particular vampire.

"… You're beautiful." His voice surprised both of them, but the words that came out were what frightened Zero the most. This was a creature that drank blood, that attacked innocent people and that killed because it wanted to. "And yet… your beauty is nothing but a tool to lure in prey. Beautiful… but deadly."

"Deadly? No," he whispered back, half out of breath. "Don't you have people you want to protect too? Is it judged as being deadly and cruel if you refuse to stand by and watch your loved ones be killed ruthlessly without a single thread of compassion or mercy? I could have killed you, but… you're different."

"Different?" It was a silent whisper, a question asked without knowing if it wanted to know the answer. The vampire's lips curled into a half-smile again, a bit of sarcasm hidden in his expression. "Are you not…? You haven't shot. You won't take an innocent life. You protect."

_You won't take an innocent life. _What a lie. What a filthy lie. As if he hadn't already done so. Done so even before he had an awareness to take lives with. Before even being born, he had sucked away at the nutrition and nourishment that should have secured his brother's life. And yet, Ichiru had been born. Frail, but he was alive. And it was Zero's fault that he would never have the chance to feel just as good as everyone else.

Not that Zero thought it mattered that he was born frail. In fact, it had only created a fierce overprotectiveness towards his twin in the young hunter. Yagari, Kaito and Cross did their best to treat them as equal as possible, but it was difficult. Ever since they'd been small, the differences between them were apparent. Zero had a natural way with being a hunter, while Ichiru struggled to stay focused and to remember what he'd learned when he was well enough to join at all.

Now, they were both close to being full-fledged hunters and they both patrolled together with the adult hunters or alone. But Zero had a constant fear that Ichiru would be too weak to fight a vampire that attacked him. He was afraid that Ichiru would die and then it would all be Zero's fault because he'd taken some of what was meant to be Ichiru's and therefore strengthened himself, while weakening his twin.

He hated himself for that, he always had and now that pureblooded bastard had the nerve to say he wouldn't take an innocent life. What would he know?!

Zero knew Ichiru carried a heavy burden, not just on his body but on his psyche as well. He always pushed himself farther than his health really did allow him in order to prove that he could be useful, but still he felt perfectly useless. And nothing Zero could say or do would change that opinion.

"You're wrong. What would you know of what I have done or not done? You don't have any idea," he whispered, prepared for battle. His voice was deadly still and he steeled himself for pulling the trigger. The gun's barrel was still pointing towards the pureblood's head and Zero had expected the vampire to attack when he understood that his playing innocent didn't work.

But the pureblood lowered his head and made no move to avoid a bullet. "I really wish… I wouldn't leave her behind…" he whispered slightly, almost too low for Zero to detect the words. He was obviously giving up, his body heaved for air while the blood just kept flowing and his eyes, fixed on the ground, looked empty.

And yet the words poked at Zero's curiosity. He was keenly aware that it might be a trick, words spilled to distract the hunter enough for the vampire to escape. Why else would a vampire say he was sorry that he was going to die, not for himself, but for the fellow beasts he'd leave behind? "Who is "her"…?"

The pureblood hesitated shortly before answering, probably afraid of exposing her. "… It's my sister. I love my sister very much. She's the most beautiful thing I've seen…"

Zero's eyes widened unintentionally at the deep undertone of the pureblood's words. There was no doubt that what he said was said from the heart. He wasn't trying to manipulate Zero, he simply spoke his mind about his sister. The young hunter couldn't seem to take his eyes off the pureblood, and he noticed. His burgundy eyes focused on Zero again, this time with a questioning look.

"Ah… nothing. I've just never heard a vampire…"

"Speak of love?" he asked absently, the same deep and sincere tone in voice as before. His long fingers treaded loosely through the dark locks, revealing his sweat-slicked face, red from the exhaustion. The half-smile, half-grimace returned as the hunter shook his shoulders. "Vampires don't have human emotions. Love is a very human emotion."

"No… Love is a word to indicate a connection that one person feels for another. It has nothing to do with being human or not," the pureblood whispered in a slightly lecturing tone. His hand clutched his own bleeding shoulder tightly.

The pureblood's words touched something deep and vulnerable in the hunter. What if… it was he who was about to die? What if he would never get back to see Ichiru, Yagari or even Cross again? Those people he cared for… he wanted to get back to them. And this pureblood could have prevented him from coming back yesterday, yet he had allowed Zero to continue living. Didn't he owe the pureblood now?

"… Now, we stand equal." Zero slowly lowered the gun, taking a few steps back to let the vampire know that it was no trick. The young hunter made way to let him pass.

At first, he simply looked questioningly up at Zero, as if he needed some time to comprehend what it was the hunter told him. Then he stood, using the wall behind him as a support. Slowly, inch by inch, he got closer the entrance to the street and at last, he slipped out of the alley way and disappeared, almost vanishing into thin air.

Zero learned back towards the wall, not sure what had just happened. And yet, in a way he knew all too well. He had just had the chance to finally kill one of the only three purebloods remaining. He could have pressed the trigger, that was all that would have been required. And yet, he had lowered his gun and let the vampire escape. Who knew how many lives he could have spared if he had pulled the trigger?

But what frightened Zero the most wasn't the guilt that consumed his heart. It was the feeling that what he'd just done was justified. The feeling that he had saved a life after all.

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When the shadows started getting longer and longer, Yuuki saw the sun disappear behind the ruins of the old houses, and she started getting nervous. Soon, the boats would leave the shore and Kaname hadn't gotten back yet. She started searching the surrounding streets to see if he was on his way, but she didn't find him. What if he had been attacked by a hunter? Maybe he had been hurt. Yuuki observed both Takuma and Hanabusa cast worried glances towards the ruins from time to time.

It was Yuuki who saw Kaname first, when he turned the corner and arrived at the port. She immediately started complaining to him, for making her worry, but she swallowed her words almost before she got started. "Kaname! You're hurt! What happened?"

"I met a hunter…" he replied, his voice and expression indicating how absent-minded he was. His hand clutched at the bleeding wound, but the pain didn't reach his features. Yuuki nodded and helped him sit down once they got on the boat. "I'll clean it when we come home," she promised and took a quick look at the wound to see if there was any urgent danger.

Luckily, that didn't seem the case, even though he bled horribly.

Back at the infirmary, Yuuki put bandages around the wound after having washed and cleaned it. Both Takuma and Hanabusa came over to overlook the washing and to see how bad it was for themselves. Although Kaname constantly reassured them that it was nothing, they both decided it was better to stay in his near surroundings while Yuuki helped him.

Kaname's thoughts wandered to the young hunter with silvery hair. He still almost couldn't believe what he'd heard the hunter say. It contrasted with how hunters were. A hunter who had the opportunity to "rid the world of one of those pureblooded monsters" but who chose to let the vampire go because he sensed something human in him? Kaname couldn't understand. With all the massacres made on vampires, if the problem was that hunters didn't see them as beings with emotions, surely they would have stopped sooner? Only beings with emotions could scream when it hurt or beg to see his or her loved ones, in Kaname's mind.

It seemed to Kaname that it could not have been a sudden impulse in all hunters that told them to go kill the vampires immediately after living many years in relative peace. Not that there hadn't been clashes, but overall it had been quite peaceful and the Council had managed to cooperate with the Hunter Association in a way that was somewhat satisfying to both sides. No, it wasn't impulsive.

For a person who hadn't received education after the age of eight, he had a very sharp, quick mind, characteristic of a pureblood. He had a basic understanding of almost anything. He was especially skilled at seeing opportunities and using them, as well as other tactical abilities, since the world he lived in had forced him to either develop these skills or perish. It didn't take him much to figure out, now that he was thinking of it, that there must be someone leading these hunters, someone to maintain hatred for vampires in their hearts. A spider, sitting comfortably in the middle of his web. A spider who enjoyed watching the flies squirm before falling silent.

Kaname remembered the hopelessness of walking through the forest, having to escape over and over each time they thought that now they'd found a safe place to be. He understood why some of the vampires simply gave up as the escape progressed.

At one point, Kaname and his companions had reached a place called UT 10, called so because it lay 10 kilometers north of Utsunomiya. The vampires called it Kishi Kaisei, a Japanese saying literally meaning Wake from Death and Return to Life. It couldn't have been more misleading, the name was meant as an encouragement. Kaname remembered it as an inhuman and highly disturbing place.

Thousands of vampire fugitives gathered here, vampires, who seemed to have reached their final moments. Fatigue, hunger, thirst, diseases; people who just lay and didn't want to get up. All those who'd made it that far now had a choice, and no matter the outcome, it would be fateful, highly likely fatal.

They could continue towards Mito, where the hunters awaited them. They had cleansed Ibaraki Prefecture of vampires at this point and controlled all of southern Japan. The other option was to go through another forest. This forest, as explained to them, was full of misery, diseases and wild animals. If it was in the forest that people preferred dying, it was their choice.

The fugitives had discussed the options carefully. The way through the forest led towards Aomori, a prefecture much longer to the north. The only safe way to Aomori was another 600 kilometers. But those who reached Aomori might be able to get to the large island Hokkaido north of Japan, where some vampires already had gathered and now protected most of the island from hunters.

In Kaname's eyes, it was unbearable to walk towards Mito and near-certain death, but he and his companions were also scared when they heard that there was so long to Aomori. Was it even possible for them to walk 600 kilometers? How long would that take? And even if it could be done, did they have the strength for it? Until now, the group had walked almost 500 kilometers and they were emaciated and in lack of food and blood. So another 600 kilometers? Such questions had kept circulating in Kaname's mind. As one of the oldest and a pureblood, he'd been in charge of deciding what to do up until that point and he felt that it was his responsibility.

The more he'd thought of it, though, the more he believed they could make it. In his mind, Mito represented certain death. His group consisted of two purebloods and three nobles. Just the kind of vampires that the hunters were most interested in killing. On the opposite, Kaname didn't think that dying in the forest was inevitable. Possible, yes, but not inevitable.

Everywhere, there had been a dense atmosphere of extreme fear. Everywhere, families sat down and made their decisions. People said goodbye. It seemed completely absurd. _What is all this?_ Kaname'd asked himself. _Living people, who says goodbye to each other, because they prepare to die. Families deciding who will go to the forest and who will go to the hunters. _

Kaname had seen men who, in full agreement with their wives and children, left them alone, and women who had done the same. It wasn't about _us, _it was about _me _and there was no reason to feel abandoned or let down.

Later that day, Kaname had gathered enough information to start discussing what their group should do. He had started off explaining everything as it was, not hiding anything at all. He also said he wanted to go to the forest. Ruka and Yuuki didn't say too much. Yuuki was young and Ruka wanted what Kaname wanted.

Akatsuki was already ill, and Kaname didn't want to press him through the forest, but he had felt that he himself was strong enough to make it. He didn't consider that the others might not feel that way after all. When Akatsuki heard that Kaname wanted to go to the forest, he was infuriated and left. But afterwards, he surprisingly returned and agreed to go that way. He didn't want to be separated from Ruka, who would follow Kaname to the last.

In UT 10, a young noble girl walked around, crying and completely hopeless. She was very thin and when she sensed the two purebloods, she located them and for a day, she slept with the group under their tarpaulin. The girl, who was called Maria, had been in UT 10 for three days prior to Kaname's arrival and with deep fear in her voice, she told them that in her mind, it could be the same.

Maria had been separated from her family already at a place Kaname and the others knew all too well, Hakone. There, hunters had located the main flow of fugitives, many more than what was left in UT 10, had encircled them and then killed as many as possible. Maria seemed traumatized. She told that she would definitely go to Mito. She feared that the hunters would give her a slow and painful death, but she was born frail, as she explained, and she knew she couldn't stand 600 kilometers. She had laughed mockingly at Kaname when he told that he'd rather go into the forest. She told him he was digging his own and his group's grave.

"_What about yourself, what is it you're doing?" _he'd asked. And she had, completely calm replied: _"But that's what I said – it doesn't matter. I just don't want to be eaten by any animals. I would rather die by a bullet. If it just happens fast. It's the best decision I can make now."_

"_You don't get to decide how you're going to die!"_

"_I still think the worst would be to be eaten by animals," _she stubbornly replied. And at last, Kaname had surrendered. _"If you want it that way, then that's what it's going to be like!"_

About Maria's future destiny, nothing was known. She had never come to Hokkaido, and no one had heard from her.

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Ichiru let his hand run over the soft fabric of his pillow, staring into the wall right in front of his eyes. Once again, he had come home earlier than any of the other hunters. It was only three o'clock in the afternoon, the vampires would only leave the island in some hours. Only then would Zero and Yagari return.

But it wasn't only in strength he felt he was different. For years, he had looked at vampires differently than the others. He couldn't voice his frustrations, but for years, they had been building up inside him slowly, but surely. He felt it wrong, disgustingly wrong, what the hunters thought was so natural and right. He couldn't and wouldn't see that it was right for vampires to die.

He had been unable to see it that way ever since he'd met that vampire girl. With silvery hair like his own, she'd captured his gaze. They had met at Mito, a place notorious for vampires to surrender. She had surrendered to him, begged him to treat her gently. She didn't want a painful death, she was born frail. When she said that, Ichiru had felt the connection between them. Both born a little weaker than everyone else around them. Both not being fully accepted because of this handicap.

He knew he didn't have a choice but to kill her, but he didn't want her to suffer. That was the last of his wishes. He was prepared to shot her in the head and end it all… when Kaito had noticed what was happening, recognizing her as a noble. He'd stopped Ichiru… taken her captive and given her the death she had so badly begged to be spared for.

The moment Kaito pulled her along was frozen in Ichiru's mind. When she turned around and with her tiny voice screamed full of fear…

_Hunter-san…!_

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_To be continued…_


	4. Rotten Fruit

**Fallen Petal **

_by Kuro Warau_

**A/N: **About the chapter's title, rotten fruit is usually used as an indicator for lost innocence, in this case, the loss of childhood and compassion.

**Chapter Four: Rotten Fruit**

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Zero tousled in his sleep, panting heavily as he squirmed around on the sheets. He was far gone in his dream, not even waking when Ichiru irritated turned on the light on his side of the bed. Ichiru was a light sleeper by nature, and combined with his frail condition, it meant that he usually took many short breaks during the day where he dozed slightly off before reawakening. It was only at night that he usually slept longer than a couple of hours, so he didn't take lightly to being awoken.

His twin tossed around though, and Ichiru had to reach out and lightly tug at Zero's shirt to wake him up. "Zero…? Are you having a bad dream?" he asked sleepily, his eyes already beginning to close despite the sharp light he'd turned on a moment before. His head hit the pillow as he yawned and leaned downwards.

The mirror of his own eyes opened sluggishly in the face of his brother and Zero's hand went up to brush a stray lock of silvery hair away from his eyes. "Ah…? No… it wasn't a bad dream," he murmured tiredly, his mind too dazed to even remember what it was he'd been awoken from. His mind wasn't working too fast and all he could remember was garnet eyes.

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Kaname's hands took a strong grip on the sheets, his breathing first erratic and then slowing down to normal. Even in his dream state his natural pureblooded instincts kicked in and made sure anyone who looked at him in his sleep would be fooled into thinking he was in complete control. Truth was… he was well trapped in his dream. Enchanted by it.

Yuuki had not yet fallen asleep, and her sensitive vampiric ears easily caught up on the sound of Kaname's fingers digging into the sheets in this otherwise completely quiet room. Turning over, she saw the light sheen of perspiration on her brother's forehead and smiled in amusement.

"_Nice _dream?" she murmured faintly.

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Kaname kept a close eye at a small group of hunters a few stories below him. His ever watchful eyes followed their movements in silence, keeping up with them just out of a hunter's hearing range for the small sounds he made when he jumped between buildings.

They had of course sensed his presence, but since they hadn't considered looking _up_ yet, he had decided to follow them on their search for him. There was five of them, but neither of them had noticed that Kaname was slowly leading them into a trap, as of yet. Since they followed his scent and his presence, it was easy for Kaname to stay just a few meters in front of them and about ten meters above them. He led them away from the more guarded areas of town and into some sort of no man's land.

These buildings were all but well-kept and Kaname easily maneuvered over old boxes about to collapse from misuse as well as the broken remnants of the windows. When one house ended and another began, he simply jumped from one broken, opened window to another, quickly and quietly like a cat.

Kaname knew these areas of town like the back of his hand, since he usually ran off to a small sanctuary in these lone alleyways. Even though he loved Yuuki, he needed time alone from time to time and in these areas, no hunter ever came, so he was relatively safe and could relax.

This gave him knowledge enough to lay out a carefully sketched plan. Against five hunters in open and fair fighting, he was doomed. But if he could lure them into a blind passage and cut off their escape route while surprising them, he had good chances. Besides, they were the ones following him to start off with, so he better show them that it was easy to get your fingers burned when you played foolish games you didn't understand with the pureblood.

When there were only a few streets back to the blind end he was leading them towards, he slowed down the pace, and just before turning them around the last corner, he sped up to lead the scent all the way, then went back in his own tracks to be behind the group. He couldn't risk that they picked up that he was now behind them and not in front of them.

A faint smile ghosted across his lips the second the group turned the corner. They had an advantage in numbers, but they'd let themselves be easily fooled. Kaname was slightly surprised that they didn't get suspicious when the trail was so fresh and kept being so. Normally, if a vampire was discovered when they were so close, the distance would get much bigger almost immediately as the vampire, no matter in how bad a state, sped up and used his or her last strength to try and escape.

Swinging himself elegantly and soundlessly down the stories separating him from the ground, he ended up cutting off the hunters escape route. And only then they realized his presence behind them. Too late. Much too late.

At his sudden arrival, they all took a step back in absolute shock before pulling themselves together and pointing their guns at him almost simultaneously. Kaname disappeared as fast as he'd materialized and their bullets hit thin air.

For a vampire as young as Kaname, he had excellent senses and reflexes, but then again, he was a pureblood. His very body and mind were designed for this. Designed to maintain complete control. And he had to be in control. Even though he'd cornered the prey, five hunters with hunter weapons were quite a risk to take on for a lone vampire. If he didn't play careful, he'd end up badly hurt. Although his supernaturally fast movements looked effortless, it actually took a lot of energy to move so fast. While vampires generally moved faster than humans, still a vampire was no lightning. Fast enough to be spotted as something unnatural to the human eye, but still not fast enough to take out everything without a risk.

It would have been nice to have a fellow vampire with him, but if he should succeed and not get killed instead, he needed to be clear headed. Over the years, however, he'd trained himself in perfect self-control and emotions rarely got to him anymore, if he didn't wish them to and let down his guard.

The problem this time however, was getting close enough to one of the hunters to kill him without being a too easy target for the other hunters. For Kaname to do that, he had to be fast as a lightning and precise as a well-placed arrow. He had to be gone before the hunters understood what happened and he had to slice the hunter's most vital parts apart in the short time he got.

For a sharper and more focused mindset as well as body, Kaname let his vampiric instincts take over. A deeply animalistic growl escaped his lips as his fangs grew into their full size. He curled forward, his suddenly bright red eyes registering the most points of attack using the hunters' heartbeats. Measured drums in the distance. His talons gripped the other edges of the old window frame as he readied himself to drop down over them.

Kaname knew he had to be careful though. Letting his vampire side control him was beneficial because it strengthened his concentration. His senses went into overdrive naturally and adrenaline pumped around his body, making him stronger and faster than usual.

But it was a double-edged sword. Kaname couldn't control himself when he let that wild blood rush flow over him, as much as he would have been able to otherwise. His vampiric side was his animalistic, feral side and it was much harder to call it back than to summon it. And his vampiric side in his half-starved body craved blood. That was a dangerous wish. If Kaname started drinking, he was doomed. And the truly horrifying part was that he was well aware of it, but that he was unable to tell whether he would give it much care when blood was spilled right in front of him.

It was a risk he took because it gave him a vital advantage and a deadly edge. This side of him wanted to see blood, wanted to drink it for other reasons than just feeding. It was the same side that gradually took over ex-humans and sentenced them to the dark. Kaname just had better control over his side and his current condition was nothing longer lasting. But behind it, the same killer edge was. The same desire to devour and to spill just because it was within his power.

Another growl slipped from him and he descended down behind the closest hunter in one, swift movement. Kaname's talons pierced through the closest, pulling the heart lose, but not out. He couldn't control himself if he had the opportunity, he knew that, so he simply left it like that and disappeared.

The hunter had only slipped a little, surprised sound and it was better like that. When the other hunters finally turned around and understood what had happened, Kaname was long gone, hiding high above them. The hunter died quickly and Kaname made ready to launch another attack. It would be more complicated this time though. They were alert now.

Kaname dropped down again, taking out the nearest hunter. But this time, he screamed before Kaname got his claws in him and the pureblood dug out of the way when horribly quick, but luckily imprecise, bullets whirled after him. The hunter was already dead, but there were three more of them and they were ready to shot him down the second he attempted to get back into the building.

The savage part of him told him to just go out and kill them all off before they had time to touch him. Under normal circumstances, he would have clenched such desires, they were highly dangerous and with three hunters still ready to shoot him, it was too great a risk.

But now, it might be the best option if he wanted to survive. If he tried getting back in the building, he'd be shot down. If he remained where he was, he would be captured. But if he attacked, it would catch them off guard and then, it was only highly likely that he'd be shot.

Throwing himself out from behind the boxes he'd been hiding behind and getting to his feet, he caught the first hunter, stabbing him with his talons. Throwing the body away, he felt a sharp pain run from his shoulder. When he looked down, though, he noticed his luck.

Because of the confusion, the bullet had only touched his skin, coursing blood to pour, but not in an alarming rate. He'd only been superficially hit, so the most damage came from the hunter poison, taking out some of his vampiric advantages.

The hunter who'd shot him stood closest and Kaname decided that he would be the easiest next target. He used his fading vampiric speed to get close before the hunter could fire again. Kaname killed in the blink of an eye, turning his attention towards the last of them… and froze.

Out of breath, his hand shaking slightly, but with both the gun's barrel and his burning eyes pointing directly at Kaname was the young silver-haired boy from before. His heart sank just a little. He knew he had to kill the boy now, it was a matter of "him-or-me", but it still filled him with dread to have to kill the boy who'd spared him just yesterday.

Clenching his teeth, he moved forward swiftly, maneuvering to not get hit by the bullets that were now whirling around him. He reappeared right in front of the silvery eyes, which widened, and the boy took a step back instinctually.

Taking a strong grip in his coat and the underlying shirt, Kaname slammed him into the dirty wall, forcing him to release the gun. He forced himself to be stern and collected, forced his vampire side to block out his human emotions, like he always did. Just this time, even more so. This boy hadn't killed him, and for some reason, that made it even harder for Kaname to take this particular boy's life.

He knew he had to do it, but it was incredibly hard for him, against all logic. "You want to die?" Kaname asked, if only to make it seem like he wasn't hesitating because he found it unbelievably difficult to just bore his talons through the boy's chest as he had done with his fellows. Kaname could feel the hunter's erratic heartbeat against his hand.

From the second he lost the gun, the boy had remained quiet and still. It seemed to be his way of dealing with near-death experiences. Kaname bet it was his way of not provoking a more painful death without losing his dignity. Just that people developed a special way to deal with these experiences had seemed completely absurd were it not for the world they lived in nowadays.

However, now he started struggling. "What the hell?! Of course not!" he shouted angrily, lashing out verbally because the way Kaname pinned him made it impossible for him to lash out physically. "Why would I?!"

"… Why indeed?" Kaname murmured back absently, as if he wasn't really answered the hunter. _He_ sometimes wanted to die. And the reason for that was obvious. Because it hurt too much to live. Because he had to kill to live. Because there was nothing left to fight or live for. Because it simply was the easiest way.

And because, right now, he hated himself deeply for having to kill this boy in particular. _Why…?_

Because he'd spared Kaname when anyone else would have ended him? Because he was so radically different than anyone else? Kaname did not know and he was unsure what it was about the boy that drew these reactions out of him. Perhaps it was just that he was different from the usual hunter? It was just a fascination with the unknown, then? Honestly… Kaname was intrigued. He wanted to know more about this mysterious hunter.

Kaname leaned back, easing his hand out of the hunter's shirt. No matter what it was, it was unbearable to kill him. And Kaname knew better than to deny his basic instincts.

The intriguing, silver eyes widened before the boy stumbled backwards until his back hit the wall behind him. "… Why…?" he asked with a breathless whisper, scrambling to his feet and casting nervous glances at his gun, which, in the course of the fight, had slipped farther away.

Gathering his courage, Kaname looked up at the hunter, got to his feet and calmed his vampire side as best he was able. His fangs retracted and his talons returned to being fingers, but the red still tinted his eyes. Clenching his teeth tightly, he tried to look past the obvious distaste he felt for all hunters. "I'm Kaname," he mumbled awkwardly, keenly aware of how his voice trembled ever so slightly. How inane. He could slay four hunters without blinking, yet was unable to introduce himself without trembling.

The hunter seemed taken aback as well, suddenly looking as he thought he had heard voices. "What?" he asked instantly, although it was clear from his expression that he'd heard perfectly well. Kaname looked away in embarrassed certainty that the hunter would laugh at him any second and then try and see if he could get to his gun.

However when he'd used a few seconds to pull himself together, he did something that surprised Kaname more than he'd care to admit. "… Zero." His voice startled both of them, although it seemed to startle the hunter himself the most. "I-I mean…" he awkwardly started, as if he could retract his words and pretend he hadn't just told a vampire his name as if they weren't deadly enemies.

Against his will, Kaname's face lit up in a bright smile and then, not wanting to wait for Zero to break the moment by trying to kill him or anything, he hurried off. _Zero…_

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Kaname inspected his sister's necklace in the pale moonlight falling in through the open window. A simple necklace in silver, dirtied and half-destroyed under their escape. But it was fine craftsmanship, that much was obvious. There was a time where they could afford to think over such things.

When he and his family lived near Kyoto, they had the world at their feet, in Kaname's eyes. But then suddenly, everything had changed. The hunters had broken into their house and killed his father, who was merely trying to protect his family. Luckily, Kaname didn't know how Haruka died, because his mother, when she realized that the hunters were right outside their house, immediately seized both her children and ran out the backdoor and over the fields around half a kilometer to a small house owned by some level C friends.

However, once Juuri had understood how bad the situation was, she knew she was putting her friends in danger by being there, so that evening, she'd ordered Kaname to help her pack. And so Kaname had. Shirts, trousers, dresses, skirts, underwear. Juuri packed a big madras for all three of them, three blankets and some sheets. She also brought along some kitchen tools, a little food and some money.

The next morning, at five o'clock, they had set out. They had walked all day and when they finally stopped, because they reached a forest, they spent the night in an old house together with around fifty other vampires. They were exhausted and their feet hurt, since they weren't used to walking. Juuri had warmed some water and given them a proper massage before dinner.

That evening, Juuri had heard some young nobles talking about the killings and about how they could get away from their last known location as fast as possible. They were nervous and ended up deciding to get up at midnight and continue through the forest. They had meant the journey through could be made in one and a half day. Juuri had listened and when she woke her children up at midnight, she had already packed and they all three joined the nobles.

However, while they had walked through the dense undergrowth, they hadn't known that the village on the other side of the forest had been taken by the hunters. As soon as light began peeking through the dense forest, bullets whirled around them. The young nobles were shot down immediately and Kaname and his family could thank Yuuki's age, and therefore slow tempo, for protecting them. Juuri had pushed both her children into some scrubs and told Kaname to take care of his sister no matter what. To just keep running until he was sure they were alone.

And Kaname had done just that, taking Yuuki's hand and running. However, he had been sure they would be captured, they left a trail of their unique pureblood scent, easily discernible to hunters, behind. When he heard movement around a hundred meters behind them, he therefore pushed him and Yuuki into a pond in desperation. They had swum underwater until they were covered by some roots sticking out of the bank. Kaname had known they were close to their family's friend, Cross Kaien, but had been wise enough not to search after him in the village and had instead decided to try and locate the flow of vampire fugitives.

Hunters had destroyed so much for him. His family, his home, his friends, his childhood and his innocence. His self-respect was gone too, after all the cruel and merciless decisions he'd been forced to make to make sure Yuuki survived. Although he was happy to see her happy, although he was happy to know he'd managed to save her and bring her somewhere relatively safe, he was no longer truly happy.

However, there was no way he'd let Yuuki see that side of him. He fought hard to appear happy and content, so he could encourage her to be happy. If there was one thing he wouldn't forgive himself, it was if he coursed her pain. He wanted to encourage her and make sure to reassure her that everything would be alright. Even though he had long abandoned hope that the world could revolve back to the way things used to be. He knew the truth. The hunters had changed things. Permanently.

It was all the hunters' fault and yet… that particular hunter… there was something definitively different about him. Something that drew Kaname in and held him captivated.

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Kaito leaned back in his seat with a long sigh, breathing deeply in the as-good-as complete silence of the room. Meaning… the room they were in was quiet enough, but the usual sounds made it through the wall. "I am… so tired of this," Kaito declared with another deep sigh and a roll of the eyes.

Ichiru, too, had leaned back towards the back of the chair in half irritation, half embarrassment. "It's always the same… 'Kiss. Moan. Slap. Crash. Groan. Kiss'," he imitated with a wry smirk, making fun of the situation because it embarrassed him. Not that all three of them weren't used to this, but it hadn't gotten easier to listen to over the years.

"I wish Cross would just give it and forget it. Every time I think that know he must have put it behind him, Yagari-sensei gets the same idea, tries his luck and then we're back to the beginning," Kaito explained in irritation, biting his lower lip when another growl cut through the silence. Ichiru half-nodded in his seat, wetting his lips with the last water left in his glass, still thirsty, but determined to not enter the kitchen at the moment.

Zero, who had been looking absently out the window from his seat before, now turned his attention to Kaito. "It's selfish, you know that? To wish for Cross to forget something that hurt him so gravely just so you can get peace."

"So perhaps you like listening to their half-fighting, half-love making?" Kaito asked mockingly, gesturing with his hand to the kitchen door. Zero shook his head, but didn't pull back his comment.

Zero loved his family and he loved living with them. Ichiru, Yagari and Cross, they were all his family after his parents had been killed. Even Kaito was a part of his family, even though he was reluctant to admit it. He loved his family… but sometimes they were less tolerable than usual.

From time to time, it was a real pain having to live with Yagari and Cross having an on/off relationship, if _relationship _was the right word at all. Yagari had tried for ten years to earn a proper confession out of Cross, who stubbornly refused. Cross wasn't his old self, even Zero could see that, even though he'd been young ten years ago.

After what happened to Kuran Juuri, Cross had changed. He was still irritatingly sunny, but it was as if the smiles never really reached his eyes. However, Zero couldn't figure out why all that anger he held inside against hunters were directed at Yagari more than anyone else. Zero killed vampires too, but Cross loved him still. In a way, Zero knew Cross loved Yagari too, but it was difficult between them.

Their dance went back and forth between periods were they were just friends and nothing more was mentioned or suggested, then Yagari would think that this time, he'd definitely waited long enough, that this time Cross would have forget about the pureblood. Zero's sensei would try his luck and then they had a scene like the current where they kissed, discussed, fought and then kissed again. Zero suspected that Yagari might encourage himself to trying his luck with the help of alcohol, which just worsened the odds.

Suddenly, Zero realized that Kuran Juuri highly likely had been that pureblood's mother. Although he knew nothing of what pureblood was what, it was commonly known that the two Kuran children escaped when their parents were killed, and Ka… the pureblood had mentioned that he had a sister. So, Kuran Juuri must be the pureblood's mother. And, now that his line of thoughts travelled to the pureblood, Zero quickly lost focus on the sounds coming from the kitchen.

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_To be continued…_


	5. Out of the Ashes, Into Your Arms

**Fallen Petal**

_by Kuro Warau_

**A/N: **I'm so sorry I haven't said anything about this before, but thank you so much to everyone who reads, reviews, follows or puts this story in their favorites. It greatly motivates me to write and it just makes me so happy to see that you enjoy my work.

I have upcoming exams the next month, so updates will be scarce. Next week I'm having four exams in five days. So I probably won't be able to write. But I'll write as often as I can find the time to do so. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter Five: Out of the Ashes, Into Your Arms**

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"What's this?" Zero asked half-interested as he unfolded the letter once contained within the envelope he held in his other hand. Kaito leaned comfortably back in his armchair and nodded towards the letter. "Another special order. I got it from Yagari."

"Hmm… and where did he get it from?" Zero asked, reading through the formalities in the top of the letter. Kaito shrugged, reaching for the glass of juice he'd helped himself to a moment ago. "How would I know? Yagari-sensei has connections in the top of hunter society, you know that."

"Ah… You know, from time to time, I'm thinking they should have some reason to be displeased with me down at the Association. It appears they're trying to kill me," Zero chuckled lightly as he presented Kaito the letter, pointing to the area listed farthest down on the spread. On such papers, dispatched from the closest Association, apart from formalities and names of both vampires the Association wanted killed and hunters to accompany the one who'd received the order, it also said in which area the hunting should start. Vampires didn't just walk around in the streets, each vampire had it's own streets to patrol, more or less, so if the Association wanted a definite vampire killed, there were places to look first, with a higher chance of finding it.

Kaito leaned forward in his seat again, expecting the order. "Yeah, that is center vampire territory. On the other side of the pond, I mean." Zero nodded thoughtfully, turning the paper back to look at it once more for himself. In the area he was to patrol, vampires all but flooded the streets. And certainly, the vampire they were sent out to hunt wouldn't be alone. It would be a hard job, but Zero was used to such. And luckily, he wouldn't be alone.

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The faint glimmer of dust a vampire left behind when they were killed always reminded Zero of what the creature was. Nothing but dust, worthless, useless, and yet it glinted in the dull twilight as if it was in fact made of pulverized diamond. Zero sighed deeply. Mission accomplished. They had hunted down and killed a troublesome noble that the Association was especially eager to get rid of. True, it had not been that hard of a hunt, because although the vampire was a noble, he had been closer to being a level C than a pureblood. His bloodline had been diluted almost too much for him to call himself a true noble.

Now that the job was done, what was first and foremost was to get out of this area as fast as possible. There were many vampires close by, he could feel that, and they could no doubt feel the six hunters just as well. And with the gunshot a moment ago and all, the chances that any vampire in their vast surroundings had missed where they were and what they were doing… it was zero. They were drawing a lot of unneeded attention on themselves. Zero was sure that within the next fifteen minutes, these streets would be swarming with vampires and at that time, it would be best to be long gone.

A tall, slightly older hunter pointed down at a street leading back to where they came from. The vampires were close, too close for comfort. Words could not be spoken, they would be picked up immediately by the vampires' keen senses, perhaps even before the other hunters would get the message.

The six hunters disappeared down the street suggested by the oldest of them immediately. These outskirts of town were flooded with vampires. Zero's senses were going into overdrive, capable of feeling the presence of each and every vampire at close enough range for detectability, and right at the moment, that was quite a lot of vampires.

Although Zero had always preferred being alone over having company, apart from Ichiru whom he loved spending time with, now he felt comfortable in the presence of the other hunters. It certainly felt better than being here alone would have felt.

Zero had a complicated family, of that he was well aware. Ever since he and Ichiru had lost their parents four years ago, Yagari had taken care of them. They had moved into Cross' house, all three of them. Cross Kaien was an old acquaintance of both Yagari and Zero's late parents, and, considering the strange sort of relation between Kaien and Zero's sensei, which he admittedly still not really understood, Cross had taken well care of them.

Kaito, a student of yet another shared acquaintance, one Zero had never met though, had moved in to a house only a few streets away. Zero knew him from a time where his own sensei had been hospitalized for a couple of months. Yagari had accepted to take over Kaito's training temporarily.

For the last two years, ever since Kaito moved closer and became a regular guest in the house, he'd been a part of their "family" too. He and Zero had always had a complicated relationship. Usually, they were polar opposites in meanings and beliefs and therefore, they clashed in any discussion. Their personalities clashed as well. Zero was quiet, emotional and somewhat anti-social person, while Kaito was out-spoken, direct and much more relaxed in a crowd. Besides, it bothered Zero that Kaito always thought it was his responsibility to look after the slightly younger hunter.

Zero sighed deeply. _If only he'd stop thinking he was so much _better. _If only he'd stop being so protective, it becomes a burden._

Zero's thoughts were cut short when two vampires dropped down from the apartments high above and down in front of the small group of hunters. These were level C's. Still fast, still deadly, and in greater number than any other level of vampire.

However, in the blink of an eye, there were two less. Zero aimed at the one closest to him, and a fellow hunter aimed at the other. The dusty diamond powder dissolved in the gentle wind immediately. Still fast, still deadly, and yet not like the higher classes.

Not like the strange brunette pureblood… It was beginning to bother him, this way his thoughts became distracted the second he thought of that pureblood. It was unsettling him, this immediate response to a mere thought. Slowly, he followed behind the other hunters, just fast enough to not be left behind, but his thoughts were elsewhere entirely. It was beginning to develop into a bad habit.

Suddenly, a bright light illuminated Zero's world for a single second… then he flew backwards and knocked harshly against something very cold and hard, while something very warm cascaded down over his front. And there was nothing but darkness.

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Kaname stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes immediately scanned his surroundings before he turned to his companion. It went without saying that they had both heard such an explosion. "Those hunters… are they really daring enough to alert every vampire around of their whereabouts simply for another couple of dead individuals, Takuma?"

The blonde noble shrugged. "Daring enough… or stupid enough. In either case, they're still around that area, without a doubt. And the noise will have attracted more vampires. We could help take them out."

His pureblooded companion nodded almost unnoticeably, and they quickly disappeared towards the origin of the sound. Kaname was faster than Takuma, naturally, but he still kept a somewhat reasonable tempo for the sake of the noble.

The slightly younger Takuma couldn't help but admire the pureblood, both his purely physical and his personal sides. He was tall, lithe and yet displaying obvious signs of strength. His body, empowered with the tremendous vitality of purebloods, all but immune to harm by any normal weapon, the most tireless and eternal of all. And Kaname himself, powerful, demanding and cunning, yet also kind and loving. Almost disturbingly placid for a pureblood, yet still capable of being cold, calculating and merciless towards anyone even considering harming his dear ones.

The blond noble observed his almost life-long friend out of the corner of his eyes as they ran. Had Kaname not taken care of him when he was walking around on his own, feeling so very, very hopeless and abandoned, he wouldn't be alive, Takuma was well aware of that.

He'd been followed the flow of vampires blindly, not knowing where they were going and not really caring either. The fugitives had dropped in number along the way, but Takuma had managed to stay out of most trouble.

Takuma had been at a friend's place that horrible day when the president was murdered. By now, the noble had forgotten what friend it was even, but he remembered the terrible moment he was told what had happened. He'd asked kindly to get driven back home immediately, however, they had insisted he stayed because, as they told him… the Ichijo mansion had been one of their first targets. After killing every vampire at the estate, both the real residents and the hired help, the hunters had stolen anything they wanted and burned down the mansion immediately afterwards.

When the hunters came for the family he stayed at, he had no option but to flee as quickly as possible. It was pure luck that he alone had survived. However, he suspected that it was the same way for every vampire who'd survived. It was nothing but luck and chances. If you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, you were shot down, so it was about being lucky.

When Kaname and Takuma arrived at the scene, many vampires had already gathered. They were searching through the debris laying everywhere among the small fires still lit for any sign of the hunters. "Did they get away?" Kaname asked, already beginning to search himself.

A slender male with a broad smirk addressed the pureblood with a respectful nod. "Oh, no, they did not. We succeeded in stopping their retreat with a small explosion. They managed to kill three first though," he explained with a regretful sigh. "We're searching for them now."

Kaname nodded slowly and turned back to searching, gesturing for Takuma to do the same. It was easy to locate the presence of the hunters when they were alive, but once they died, it quickly got much more complicated. However, two hunters were still alive, so much was obvious. One of them had already been pulled out of some debris a moment before the two had arrived at the scene, now the attention had shifted to the other presence. Kaname followed the presence into a remote area of the open yard that had, until a couple of minutes prior, been a small sideway with tall buildings on each side.

He soon got close enough to hear shallow breathing. From a nearby collision of debris from the buildings and scattered pieces of trees from boxes, some of which were still burning slightly, a pale hand suddenly broke through and started weakly pushing the bricks away. The pureblood was by the spot within the second, towering over the debris, and the body underneath. His hand duck down through the debris and pulled the hunter out of it.

Relieved from the dead weight resting over his body, Zero's brain gave in once again and he stumbled into Kaname, sliding down to the ground as he lost consciousness.

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Ichiru was making the table for dinner, and had just gotten around to putting the last plate down, when an insistent knocking from the door took his attention. Before he reached the door, however, it was flung open and Kaito rushed into their small, four-room house with a feral look about him. His eyes were wild and stormy, almost frightening Ichiru by their intensity. It worried him that his twin wasn't with the slightly older hunter, though.

Yagari, having heard the noise when the door was all but ripped off it's hinges, appeared at the door leading to the kitchen. "Kaito? What's the matter, coming and almost blowing our house down like that?" he asked, proceeding casually with carrying water to the table, ignoring Kaito's agitated demeanor and brushing it off with a hint of irritation for the sudden interruption.

"Zero… Zero was called upon for the hunt today in the northwest part of town, right?" Kaito asked in the agitated voice his demeanor was suggesting. That, however, caught Yagari's attention and he immediately turned his one eye in Kaito's direction. So did Ichiru. Usually, hunter stuff didn't interest him, but Zero could always interest him. Even cross appeared in the same doorway Yagari had walked out of a couple of moments ago. "Yeah?" the one-eyed hunter asked, turning his confirmation into a question.

"… They got tracked. And the vampires blew up a house…" Kaito started, but was cut off by Cross. "While they were in it?!"

"Ah… no. But while they walked on the street right next to it. The building collapsed, as did some nearby buildings from the shock waves." Kaito hesitated, biting his lower lip and looking down at his hands. "There… were no survivors, reportedly."

Having finally delivered the horrible message, Kaito let his eyes wander briefly over his companions' faces. Shock and disbelief filled Ichiru's, as if he denied the very possibility. Yagari grit his teeth and looked down in the table, but Cross… his eyes lit up, almost as if a secret fire burned behind the sandy expanses of his eyes' wastelands.

"You! Look what you've done!" he shouted instantly at Yagari, starling and confusing both Kaito and Ichiru. He almost never shouted at anyone, and surely, it wasn't Yagari's fault? The hunter drew a long, deep breath, then stood up and followed Cross out in the kitchen to spare the two younger people of their fighting.

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Takuma stood up from his position on an old box, still mostly complete, and ran his eyes over the scene before him one more time before leaving with the other vampires. Their job was complete. The hunter they found alive had died within minutes and they had recovered four others, all of them dead. Since one presence had disappeared while they were searching, one of the bodies they found must have survived the explosion, but died of his injuries afterwards, like the other.

He didn't know where Kaname had gone though. While they searched, he'd suddenly vanished. It made Takuma worried that he'd just disappear like that. Whenever Kaname wasn't in sight, Takuma worried for him, even though he knew he shouldn't. The slightly younger noble knew he could take care of himself, especially with vampires currently everywhere in the surroundings. He shouldn't worry, yet he couldn't help but to do so.

Kaname had protected Takuma when no one else had been willing to do so. When everyone had enough in themselves and their own families' survival. When they didn't have the time, the resources or the care even to take a lost and bewildered boy under their wings, Kaname had. He'd spread his beautiful, dark wings and placed them protectively around Takuma. At least, that was how the noble saw it. When he imagined Kaname's wings, as he so often had before when he came to think of the pureblood's kindness back there, he'd imagine them, black and feathery like a raven, shining and majestic. The most beautiful of all birds' wings.

Giving himself one last chuckle over how overprotective he was towards a person who could so obviously take care of himself, the blond noble turned and left with the other vampires for the harbors.

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Kaname placed the still unconscious hunter on some boxes he'd arranged to make a make-believe bed. Zero's breathing was slow and measured, very fragile and shallow. He'd gotten some nasty burns from the initial explosion, as well as some deep wounds from where he'd been smashed into things, or where something had fallen down over him.

And Kaname who'd initially believed it was the hunters who'd made the explosion. His mind curled slightly in rage. How could his own kind behave so devilishly? And yet… he hadn't thought it was devilishly before he'd discovered Zero in the debris.

Kaname ripped his own shirt to bind Zero's wounds almost in a trance, focusing entirely on his work to keep all other thoughts at bay. He didn't want to consider too deeply what it was he was doing, as long as it got done. He only bound in the injuries coursed by the falling debris however. Kaname was well aware of how painful it would be for Zero if he lay something over his burning scars.

Once he'd bound in what he deemed appropriate, he was at a loss of what to do, however. He couldn't just leave the hunter be, if a vampire found him, he'd be unable to protect himself. However, staying with him would not only seem completely grotesque, especially to Zero when he awoke, it would also deeply worry Yuuki.

Unsure which was worst, Kaname decided to wait until the hunter woke up at least. He settled on a nearby box not swept into his little arrangement.

It didn't take long for the hunter to wake up though, mostly pushed by the very near presence of a pureblood. His lavender eyes slowly open and he sat up awkwardly, clenching his teeth over the sharp flare of pain that accompanied the movement.

As soon as he was awake enough to register his screaming senses, he turned a glare towards the pureblood. However, his glare contracted to a painful grimace as he curled forward slightly. Kaname was by him in a second.

"What are you doing, vampire…? Why did you bother pulling me along all this way and… treat my wounds…?" he asked in confusion, only now noticing the clothing wrapped around his worst wounds to stop the flow of blood. His eyes swam in the dizzy wasteland between consciousness and darkness, as he was dimly aware of the amount of blood he must have lost.

Kaname's worried garnets followed his movements carefully and when he a moment later swayed dizzily, Kaname laid a supporting hand against his back. "Do you need any help?" he asked worriedly, retrieving his hand when Zero angrily shook his head. "I honestly don't know why I did it," he said instead.

Zero's eyes found his for a second, this time not with anger, but with surprise and… gratitude? Kaname couldn't tell. The hunter nodded slowly in understanding and looked down towards his own hands awkwardly.

Zero was mystified by this pureblood's unexpected kindness, what with his caring hands and honest answers. What upset the hunter the most though, was the way the vampire seemed to reflect Zero's own feelings. The confusion, the unnatural gentleness and the sudden and immediate interest.

Zero felt crappy, to say the least. He had gotten some serious injuries, of that he was well aware, and he tried to move his arms, hands and legs to fell if anything felt broken. Luckily, that didn't seem to be the case, but a horrible itching sensation was beginning to make it's presence known on his forearm and cheek. He reached up to touch the area in his face, but Kaname caught his hand before it reached it's destination. "Don't touch it. It's a burning scar. Look," he mumbled, stretching the hunter's arm out so he could see the damage for himself.

Swollen, inflamed and still half-bleeding scars traced lines across his skin from his wrist to just below his shoulder. Now, when he focused on it, the strangling scent of burned flesh hang in the air. It made him feel sick. He wondered why the pureblood hadn't yet jumped him when blood was spilled.

His eyes wandered from the scars back to the pureblood's worried expression. "Why…?" he started, but quickly ended his question before it even left his mouth. A small smile played in the corners of his mouth. _I honestly don't know…_

Exhausted and hurting, he decided it was better to sleep the pains away than dwell too much on the aching in his chest that he couldn't quite describe.

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Kaito pressed his hand against his chest and clenched his teeth, fighting back as the waves of pain radiated out. He had decided to spend the time at Yagari's, feeling way too torn to go back to his own house and be alone all night. It seemed almost unthinkable to him… to think that Zero, _his_ Zero, was no more. He couldn't quite get his mind around it, and for that, he was exceedingly grateful.

Ichiru took it with a strange sense of calm. He just sat there, very quietly, all night. It was in a sense a little creepy. Kaito knew Ichiru was not a strong kind of person, indeed, he'd often mocked Zero's twin about just that, which always was a sure method for getting Zero into the red spectrum of temperament. So he had suspected that he'd be crying or sobbing endlessly. Apparently, he had more emotional strength than physical.

Kaito clenched his hands simultaneously with his teeth. He would live to kill them, those bastard _creatures_ that had done this to Zero. Those monsters who'd taken him away, who'd dared hurting his Zero, they would all pay dearly. He would make sure they did. Arrogant and cold-blooded, he'd shown them. All of them.

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Kaname gently brushed some hair away from Zero's peacefully sleeping face. It was better that he was asleep, Kaname knew, since he didn't feel pain and he actually relaxed in his muscles, which would help it mend. The pain coming from the burning scar on his cheeks would only worsen if he constantly tried getting rid of it.

However, Kaname found himself wishing the hunter would wake up soon. He knew it was pathetic, but the pureblood really just wanted to talk. Such a foolish wish. It was taboo, unthinkable and horrible, and even if he awoke, it would hurt too much for him to speak properly at the moment. So the pureblood, pathetically unwilling to course him any additional hurt, continued to care for him in solitude, cleaning his wounds as best he was able, making sure he lay comfortingly and changing the bandages regularly.

What a bastard he was. He was betraying his own people, his own _sister_, just because of some weird, random connection he felt with this particular boy. Kaname couldn't even define what it was that was happening to him, but he could feel his mind shifting. Which in turn made his stomach shift sickeningly, making him nauseous.

_There was just no way…_

And yet, there he was… wishing with his very heart to make sure that the boy would be okay. He hadn't even hesitated earlier when he'd found the hunter. As if something instinctual took over. But really… he knew that blaming it on instincts was just a bad excuse. He'd _wanted _to save Zero, that was the honest truth and he knew it.

Kaname was not a person to beat around the bush, he had a habit of cutting straight to the point, no matter how much he may dislike said point. And this time, he feared that when he finally managed to put this point into words, it would be unforgivable. He could feel it already.

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_To be continued…_


	6. Sweet Dreams

**Fallen Petal**

_by Kuro Warau_

**A/N: **My summer holiday has started, I'm done with my exams and I'm off. Meaning, probably more updates and I'm really happy about that. However, it won't be all writing, I want to enjoy the weather too. Thanks for waiting so long and I hope you really enjoy this chapter and the chapters to come!

I thought I should clear things up a bit about Kaito, because it might have been a bit unclear. Kaito feel protective about Zero in a possessive way, not necessarily a loving way, and that caused a bit of confusion, so I just wanted to make it straight.

By the way, the thing about blood consummation is canon VK. In Vampire Knight, vampires drink blood because they need to, but not because they need it instead of food or water. I've seen quite a lot of fanfictions where people have misunderstood this. Of course, in a fanfiction, bloodlust in vampires can be whatever the author wants it to, and that's entirely okay! But in the original Vampire Knight, vampires don't need blood to sustain themselves. They drink blood because they want to, although their want is out of their control. And so, vampires can't die of not drinking blood, the desire will just eventually be too hard to resist.

This is a sort of transition chapter, which also mean that it changes a lot and show many characters. That's also why many new aspects are introduced or revealed in this chapter. I hope you'll all enjoy it.

Half-lemonish thing included in this chapter.

**Chapter Six: Sweet Dreams**

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Yuuki was walking back and forth in the make-believe hospital in the way she usually did when she was so agitated that she was unable to even tell what bothered her. At this point, both Hanabusa and Takuma had been patiently seated for around five minutes, waiting for her to find the breath to speak.

"Yuuki-chan, please. The point," Aidou asked, using the term _chan_ as he always did when he wanted to comfort and calm her down rather than seeming respectful. She gave him a thankful, slightly embarrassed smile and sat down with a sigh. "Kaname didn't return tonight…" she whispered, crestfallen.

"What?! You mean… oh, no, I knew I shouldn't have let him wander off on his own!" Takuma exclaimed, burying his face in his hands and sighing in a pained tone. Both Aidou and Yuuki turned to him, urging him to explain. "I… We were out patrolling together when we heard an explosion. At first we thought it was hunters who'd blown up a building, so we went there to kill them. But it turned out it was other vampires, and we ended up searching through the debris for any survivors. Suddenly… he was gone. I didn't see him leave, but one moment he was there, the next he was gone… I haven't seen him since…"

Yuuki sighed miserably and sat down with her head in her hands. If he hadn't returned by now, then… Aidou placed a supporting hand on her shoulder. "Would you like to come home with me tonight so you're not alone?" he asked compassionately.

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Zero grimaced slightly as consciousness returned to him in an unpleasant gush of pain. He blinked slowly, willing his body to move, to sit up, to understand what had lead him into this situation and what was causing him pain. His vision was blurred, but the stinging sensation from his forearm and face guided his eyes to his wounds and by reflex, he lifted a hand to touch the burned flesh. That, however, was a big mistake that he wouldn't like to repeat with the wound on his face.

Because of his state of slight unawareness, he didn't notice the vampire presence at first, but then gradually focused on the sensation until it hit him that the vampire must be very close. Then, when he looked down, the pureblood from before came into his blurred view.

Sitting leaned against the boxes Zero lay on, asleep as if Zero was no threat at all, the dark-haired pureblood adorned the room. He drew breath in small puffs, obviously beginning to wake up, urged by his senses. Those enchanting garnet eyes opened slowly at first, then in a rush got wide at the same time as the vampire pressed to his feet in a blur of motion almost too fast for Zero to see.

Kaname needed a second to calm himself down again, relaxing as he reminded himself that Zero was no threat to him in his current state. Purebloods had many mechanisms to insure their survival. Their accelerated speed and extraordinary strength was only one side, the physically. Mentally, they too had adaptations, either born with or raised with.

They had very heightened senses, being able to pick up on anything and everything in their close surroundings in the blink of an eye. Vampires were predators. Purebloods though, were not only the top supremacy of the vampiric race, but also the prey. As such, they needed survival instincts of both predators and prey.

Calming himself down, Kaname sat down on a nearby box. "How do you feel?" he asked awkwardly, not sure how to approach the hunter. A short, clipped nod was all the response he got. Zero looked like he would have run away if he'd had the strength to do it, now he simply had to stay, frightened and confused.

Kaname sent him a reassuring smile and stood up to go overlook his bandages. Immediately, the slightly younger hunter pulled back. Ten years of fear and distrust wasn't shed too easily. A sad smile was visible in Kaname's face, then he bowed down slowly, cautiously, and gently removed the fabric from one of the larger wounds. He inspected the damage, then went over to wash the bandage in cold water before binding it over the wound again.

Zero observed him in frightened suspicion, though there was no denying it felt good to have a cold cloth pressed against the warm and swollen areas. As Kaname slowly repeated the process on one after another of the bandages, Zero slowly relaxed. He watched Kaname without a word as the pureblood went over to the window and threw the bloodied water out. But when he saw the vampire look longingly down on the ground below, he got reminded of just how starving Kaname was, and therefore how dangerous.

"Why didn't you drink it…?" he asked cautiously. The pureblood turned to him, away from the sight of fresh blood sprayed on the ground. His eyes were red… but not burning. Garnet, like they used to be. "it would frighten you. Besides, I'm not that desperate," he smiled, sitting down on the box again. "Even though it appeals to me… a lot… it's not an uncontrollable desire."

"But isn't it… better that you drink that, than that you kill me, because I'm bleeding…?" the hunter asked in a whisper. He was almost afraid of triggering the thirsty pureblood's rage. What if it wasn't better? What if that was the fate the vampire had imagined he should endure?

"Much better," he agreed gently. "But it won't come to that. I can control myself. Although… I wouldn't mind just to… taste… a single drop. Even if it weren't human. Hell… even if it weren't living."

Zero grimaced slightly at the mere thought. He had seen corpses with bite wounds but… it was just too disgusting. And to think that Ka… that the pureblood was so starving he'd accept even that. He didn't look like he was starving though, but that was because he was a pureblood. He had better control over his own body, including his bloodlust, than any other level of vampire. Behind those alluring garnet eyes, the hunger burned unquenched. It made Zero shiver.

"Don't think badly of me, please. I know it sounds disgusting. I think so too. But… if you knew how much I desire just a drop… I only drink from the dead when I feel like I can't control it. It would make me unaware, frenzied, vulnerable… That's why I do it. To stay alive," Kaname tried to explain, although it was obvious that it wouldn't change how Zero thought of what he'd said.

For a short second, Zero actually… _pitied_ the vampire, out of lack of a better word. He felt like it wasn't fair that he should suffer like that, even if Zero'd been told all his life that vampires needed the life of another to live their hellish long lives themselves. It was disgusting, wrong, the way of life of a vile beast. And yet… somehow Zero couldn't quite justify to use such words on the pureblood now. He didn't drink because he wanted to… he drank because his body had a need to consume blood.

Like all vampires, Kaname didn't drink blood because he'd die without. He didn't drink it for sustenance and for that purpose, it was utterly useless. He drank because he wanted to, although it was on a basis so primal that he couldn't control it after a certain point of starvation of blood. It was like the most powerful of all drugs, impossible to resist, impossible to ignore. Kaname was addicted, even before he'd had his first taste.

However, he knew there was no way he could make Zero understand that. He could never make someone who wasn't a vampire, and who to top it all off was completely disgusted by blood drinking, to understand the powerful feeling of blood coursing through the veins. The thrumming of a foreign heartbeat on the lips, the tongue, in the veins… pumping through every cell in his body, every fiber in his being.

Kaname quickly calmed himself down. It was no use thinking of it now. He couldn't allow himself to get lost even farther in the delightful pleasures of blood drinking than he already was. _Could never lose control… especially not here, not now, not __**with him**__..._

"You brought me here for you to... feed on…?" Zero asked cautiously, biting his lips subconsciously and nervously. If the pureblood really did intend to feed on him, perhaps confronting him with it wasn't the best idea.

But Kaname simply gave a smirk. "If I had, there was little point in fighting to restrain myself, was there?" he asked in a cheerful voice, but then he pulled himself together. "I don't feel like killing you. I mean… Sorry for saying it in that way. I don't usually feel like killing anyone. Never. But with you… I feel like I have a choice. And in that case, I choose not to hurt you."

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"Ah… aren't you coming too, Takuma?" Yuuki asked uncertainly, her hand on the door handle. Hanabusa stood behind her, ready to enter her and Kaname's shared apartment. After deciding they couldn't wait for Kaname at the infirmary all night, they'd walked back together, and Hanabusa had agreed to spend the night with Yuuki so neither of them had to be alone. Although they hadn't downright received an answer from Takuma, they had assumed he wanted to sleep over too.

But the blond noble shook his head. "I'm sorry. I can't tonight. I have an appointment… there's someone else I need to see," he excused himself slowly, giving a clipped wave as he turned to continue down the alleyway. Hanabusa snorted in irritation. "Well, goodbye then."

"Let him be, Aidou. He needs time," Yuuki mumbled and gestured for Hanabusa to go inside. She saw… all the things Kaname had failed to see. Or had closed his eyes towards, Yuuki wasn't sure which.

She was well aware that Takuma had a crush on her brother, but she kept it to herself. Yuuki knew how precious the friendship between the two of them was, to both of them. She didn't want to stir it. Sometimes she wondered if that was why her brother didn't make a comment about it either. But then again, her brother had always been a quiet one, who took interest in the people who mattered to him, but else kept his feelings to himself.

It was difficult finding out just what he was thinking, truly. She found Kaname intriguing because he was mysterious. He didn't let anyone in, not even her. And at the same time, he was gentle, caring, protective… and yet he didn't realize that himself, hating himself more and more. Yuuki knew he blamed himself for every bad thing that had happened in the woods. It had never been his fault, but… that was how her brother was. Always.

She couldn't say she didn't understand Takuma's feelings. And she knew he needed to be alone with them, now that Kaname was missing.

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Takuma quickly got into the darker, less populated areas of town. Slowly rubbing at his cheeks to get rid of the bothersome tears, he followed empty streets and passed empty houses. These were the outskirts of town. Vampires were so few in numbers that approximately half of vampire population lived in Hakodate, yet they only inhabited a decidedly small area. They all lived near the center of the old city.

Walking down these streets was like walking around in a bad dream. It had become a town of ghosts and shadows. Walking these streets at least twice every week, Takuma always wondered _why_. The question hammered in his brain, drove him mad when he was alone. Why such hatred? What had he, his parents, his grandfather, Kaname, _any vampire_ done to deserve this? Yes, a couple of vampires had murdered the Hunter President and yes, it wasn't right, but the revenge the hunters and the humans had exacted on the vampire race was not equal to their crime.

These thoughts would haunt his mind until finally, he picked up the faint aura of a pureblood, following it as it grew in intensity. He followed that trail like a lifeline, shutting out all other thoughts from his mind in an attempt to get rid of the burning hatred burning in him. Instead, he focused on his self-loathing for going where he currently was going. This was ridiculous and he was well aware of it. It had always been ridiculous.

_You mistreat the ones you love, isn't that so…? Betraying him to love him…_ And yet he couldn't help himself. It was too alluring, too easy to give in… too much to win.

Finally he stood outside an apartment with a faint light in one of the windows. As soon as he stood still, a shadow appeared at the window for a short second, then the door opened downstairs a couple of seconds later. Too fast. Way too fast for anything but a pureblood.

"Takuma. You're late," the voice came from within the apartment. "Come in." The door was opened wide, urging Takuma to step inside. He hesitated for a short second, his eyes following the shadowy outline of the figure in the doorway before he got inside. "I'm sorry. It's difficult when I have to find you first every time. And besides… Kaname has gone missing…"

"And that gives you a reason to not coming here?" The shadowy figure came closer, soon standing close enough for Takuma to begin seeing the shadow's details. Long, wavy hair. Eyes that shone in the dark. A curvy, feminine body, yet with a slender and well-proportioned build. "Come. I've lit a light upstairs."

Her soft hands caressed the curve of his jaw when he stepped inside the light of the small candle. Her heated glances melted into an icy cold smirk. She led Takuma down on a couch nearby and sat down almost on top of him. "_Sara-sama…"_ he finally mumbled into her hair, his hand caressing her breast lightly through the thin layer of clothing she was still wearing. The last garments were quickly disposed of and the pureblood pressed down over the noble, their heated kisses and bold touches decided not by gender but by blood. She was his mistress and he her subordinate.

"Uhh… wait!" Takuma pushed a hand up between them. "Kaname… he didn't return tonight. He's still on the mainland. Perhaps…"

"Perhaps what, Takuma? Perhaps he's been captured, you mean? And ergo, we shouldn't do this? Is that where you're going?" Sara smirked at him, a slightly mocking undertone in her voice. "It's futile running from me, Takuma. If Kaname had been captured, surely the egocentric hunters would have mocked us, drunk on victory. You know that. Besides, you want to. You know you want to." Her shining blue eyes bored into his skull just as maddening as his hateful thoughts had been just a while before.

The young noble gritted his teeth against the invading pureblood but to no avail. Where he closed off, she pried him open. She was too strong. She leaned down, closer to his face, whispering into his ear in a silkily soft voice. "If you help me, I will be able to give you… anything you want. Although… I think I know what you want."

As he felt his control slipping under her iron will, Takuma let go of his barriers, letting Sara invade his mind with images. Images he wished to make real. Of Kaname, lying next to him in a field of flowers, smiling at him, cupping his cheek. Oh, how he wished he could reach his hand back, how he wished he could let his hand slide through Kaname's dark locks and finally let it rest against his graceful neck.

Slowly, his beloved disappeared; fading away until all Takuma could see was his unfortunate reality. He sighed in disappointment. Sara knew just what to show him to wind him even more up. Just what would drive him mad with desire to make Kaname his. So he would accept anything.

The noble reached a hand up, pulling Sara down towards him so he could kiss her breast lightly. He would surrender himself to her will once more. Just once more. He could always disobey. But right now, he needed those images to stay in his mind. And she was his personal drug-dealer.

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Ichiru stared at his own reflection in the mirror. Without emotion he observed himself, noticing not his silvery hair, not his lavender eyes or his pale, fair skin. Only the lack of piercings in his ear and his wheezing breath, the air of fatigue over his fair features held his interest.

He hated what he saw. The invalid being that stared back at him, this weak prison for his strong spirit, he hated it. He grit his teeth so hard it hurt to hold back the salty tears, but even in this struggle he was weak, they rolled down his cheeks. Good thing he was alone. Crying was being weak. Zero never cried.

And now that he was gone, Ichiru couldn't help but wonder… They were all so silent and sad, the atmosphere in their small house was tense and filled with sorrow. But had it been Ichiru who had gone missing, who'd highly likely died, would they still be this sad? He was not a valuable hunter, like his twin. He didn't have a great future ahead of him. He didn't have anything else to look forward to than stay under other people's care for the rest of his life, trapped in his own body. He was just a burden in reality.

But then again, it wasn't a very relevant question to think about. Ichiru's chances of going missing in the same way were minimal after all, weren't they? He didn't have the strength to be out hunting for more than a couple of hours every day, usually in the morning. He could barely manage his continuing training. He'd never be the hunter Zero could be.

But it didn't matter. If he'd had the chance, he wasn't sure he would take it. Yes, he'd love to get well, with every fiber of his being he would love it, it was all he ever could ask for but never get. But to be the greatest hunter as his lineage might suggest he could be? He wasn't so sure.

He'd changed, inside. He could feel it. It had started years ago. That afternoon with the silver-haired noble girl. He wished he could have saved her. And it didn't matter that vampires had killed his parents. They'd always loved Zero more, it had been so obvious and for that, he hated them. Not that didn't understand why they saw more in Zero than in him, but every time he'd heard them discuss the differences between Zero and he, the ice in his heart and the tears in his eyes had grown. Not that they hadn't done it discreetly, they didn't know he was listening, but perhaps that hurt even worse. As if they could hide his weakness from him!

His self-hatred and the hatred he felt towards the differences between his twin and himself was what made him turn a blind eye to the sides of him that was like Zero. He only saw, and despised, the sides that was different.

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Yagari sorted through a high stack of papers in a tired manner, barely noticing what he was reading through. His thoughts were another place entirely. At long last, he put down the last paper and pushed the three stacks of papers aside. He wasn't even sure they were sorted correctly, but he didn't care. Instead, he found some statistics in his drawer and looked them over.

One paper showed population of vampires ten years ago. Another showed last year. The difference was stunning. Before the war had started, vampire population had been counted in millions worldwide. Now, it was hundreds. The vampire population had been stabile around 5-6 million ten years ago. Now, it was slowly losing numbers between 300 and 250.

Good thing so many beasts had been killed. Good thing they had fought this war and now were on the brink of winning. Another couple of years, and they would have hunted down all of those beasts in human form. But… at the expense of Zero's life? The thought was almost unbearable. And made even more so by the looks he constantly got from Kaien.

Yagari hadn't been wrong, he knew he hadn't. He had saved so many lives by finally making sure those beasts were wiped off the face of the Earth. It wasn't wrong to kill a vampire. It had never been. He didn't feel sorry for them, not at all. That they had killed Zero was yet another sin committed by them that he couldn't forget nor forgive.

He couldn't understand why Kaien didn't see it that way. Those beasts had killed Zero and yet it was still Yagari who was blamed. He couldn't understand it. It wasn't fair. All he'd done was to stir the waters. It was for the better.

The conflict had already reached a critical point beneath the surface of calm co-existence ten years ago. The tension was boiling among the hunters. It couldn't go on for much longer when the killing of the Hunter President suddenly made it all erupt. So all Yagari and his colleagues had done was in reality to add the final straw. It was nothing, really.

The vampires had always been a supreme minority, beautiful, clever, powerful, but few and monitored closely by the hunters. People feared them because of their strength and power, and yet, when the power balance was turned upside down, it didn't take long to turn the crowds' fear into anger and determination. And because vampires were so few compared to hunters and humans, they didn't stand many chances.

The Hunter President had been a corrupted, old power mongrel. Conspiring with the Council, she hadn't been for the best of the Association. The hunters were better off without her anyway. It was better she had been killed and combined with the natural hatred towards the vampires that followed, it was not a crime they had committed that night. It was simply the natural follow of the tensions rising fast behind the curtain of politeness.

It had been a natural follow to kill the President and blame the bloodsuckers.

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_To be continued…_


	7. Behind My Eyes

**Fallen Petal**

_by Kuro Warau_

**A/N: **This is a bit of a slow-moving chapter. There relatively little action and more thinking, and I hope that's okay with you guys, because it's important to get the whole dilemma and set the mood. Also, I hope you enjoy this chapter and the surprisingly fast update!

**Chapter Seven: Behind My Eyes**

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Kaname sat leaned against some old boxes, his legs pulled up under him. The boxes were soaked through by a recent rainfall a couple of hours before. This building they were in was decayed and had been abandoned years ago. It had rained in through the window and soaked through the only boxes Zero weren't lying on.

Soon, Kaname would be forced to leave and look for some food for both of them. They'd already been here for two days, and while the pureblood had been able to gather some rain in a bowl he'd found, and earlier used to wash Zero's bandages, they had no food. However, he had no idea where to look for food, so for the moment, he was only planning to leave. Besides, he didn't like to leave when Zero still was so ill.

His wounds were getting infected and Kaname could only watch as it happened. At the moment, the hunter was asleep and Kaname kept a close eye on his breathing. He was very worried. Originally, he had planned to take care of Zero until the hunter was well enough to return on his own, but now it seemed like he was catching something. Kaname, never having had the need for it before, wasn't very much enlightened in the area of medicine and diseases, but Zero was ill, that much was obvious.

However, Kaname's back-up plan wasn't exactly a good one. If Zero couldn't return on his own, Kaname would have to take him and that would be absolute suicide. No, the pureblood could do nothing but take care of Zero's needs, treat his wounds and wait for the infection to wear off. Smiling fondly at the sleeping boy's face, Kaname got up and went to Zero's make-believe bedside. Dipping a cloth in the bowl with fresh, cool rainwater he'd collected during the rainfall before, Kaname washed Zero's face gently and dabbed it lightly on the forehead to still his fever and allow the hunter to fall into a deeper, more peaceful sleep.

A small, nearly soundless whimper escaped Zero's mouth and he turned slowly in his sleep, pulling Kaname's jacket, which he'd laid over the hunter to keep him warm, closer. The pureblood stroked his hair gently, then proceeded to place the bowl with water by Zero's side, in case he awoke and either needed to wipe his forehead to cool down, or wanted something to drink. Kaname couldn't wait longer, this starvation was doing no good to Zero's heeling.

At long last, Kaname made his way out of the small, decayed building, down the all but rotten stairs and out on the street below. Before deciding which way he would go, he made sure to take careful note of the house, just so he was sure he could find Zero again upon his return. From what Kaname could deduce, it was probably around midnight, meaning he wouldn't run into any hunters or vampires on his search. And while that certainly had it's advantages, it also provided Kaname with the problem of where he then should be able to find any food.

As he slowly made his way down the street, he scanned his surroundings to get a clue about where food might be present. And yet, all he wanted was to return to Zero's side. What if something happened in his absence? He couldn't chase away the fear gnawing at him. Zero was in no state to be alone, it was wrong of Kaname to leave him.

However, starving him off wasn't an option either and this was by far the best moments to leave. Zero was asleep, his fever had gone down and there were no one in town. Kaname could be sure to return any moment he pleased and that finished deciding him. He continued down the street at a reasonably high pace.

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Zero awoke slowly, half lulled back to sleep by the patting of rain on the roof just above him. He was icy cold, the room was pitching black and he could hear the rain not only on the roof, but also coming in through the window. Slowly, he sat up on the boxes and hugged the jacket in his arms closer. He shook slightly from the cold, whishing he was back in his warm bed at home.

_How could it be so cold?_ He felt icy cold as if he sat leaned against an iceberg. And thirsty. So burning thirsty. As his eyes adjusted more and more to the darkness of the room, however, he noticed that Kaname had left a bowl by his side. Where was the vampire either way?

Maybe he just had to let off some energy. Zero had quickly understood it was in the middle of the night by now, and since Kaname was nocturnal, it wouldn't be completely unexpected if he simply needed to move his body a little. Either way, Zero could care less about the pureblood, he told himself.

Reaching for the bowl with water by his side, he withdrew his hand in shock as soon as it made contact with the water. It was so cold it almost burned against his skin. How could it be so cold? And finally, Zero understood why it was so cold everywhere around him. It wasn't his surroundings that were unnaturally cold, it was he who was unnaturally warm.

Slowly, he picked up the wet cloth and washed his forehead almost mechanically. _So cold._ Now that he was aware of his fever, it burned the more powerful. He wished the vampire would return soon. Shaky legs went to the floor, weakly carrying Zero to the window. He looked out at the rainy weather outside, feeling it rain on him too whenever a particularly strong blow of wind made the raindrops fall in through the window.

It felt good on his infected wounds. The cold drops broke off the tingling, burning sensation if only for one precious second. However, standing up was making him dizzy, and soon he had to return to the boxes. He sat down on them carefully to not break them or anything. These boxes seemed so old and in so bad shape that they could break down any moment.

As Zero finally got to lay down, he immediately started shivering again. When his back made contact with the cold boxes, the shivers soon tore through his already exhausted body. Zero had nothing else to turn to than Kaname's jacket, which he clutched close to his chest as it was a lifeline.

_I wish Kaname would return soon. It's unbearable lying here alone._

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Yuuki sat leaned against the doorframe, clutching her necklace tight to her chest. She couldn't understand it. Kaname still hadn't returned, he must have been captured, perhaps he was dead, mutilated and yet… why didn't they hear from the hunters then? Why hadn't anyone heard a word of anything? Everyone knew the hunters wouldn't miss the opportunity to taunt their enemies if they had really captured a pureblood.

She couldn't understand it. She was frightened, horribly so, by the possibility that she would never see her beloved brother again. She needed a hug, someone to cup her cheek or rustle her hair, just anything. A simple sign of affection to chase away her bad dreams and shadowed worries. But she could never ask for that, and she cried only dry tears, hiding her broken heart behind a cheerful smile and a never-ending energy to keep everyone's spirits high. It was her duty, but she carried it with no joy, as she had before.

Hanabusa and Takuma tried to comfort her as much as they could, but it could never be the same as if it had been Kaname. There was a distance between nobles and purebloods that couldn't be breached even between near life-long friends. The nobles, unsure how far they were allowed to go in their affections, and the purebloods, unwilling to ask for anything, thereby exposing their need for something they couldn't provide for themselves.

As such, the equality between Kaname and Yuuki made his existence impossible to replace, even for a short while. Not alone was he her brother, he was her everything. The one who knew her just as she was, the one who saw in behind her façade. The one who would never let her down, the one she could rely one hundred percent on. All she wanted was gone with his steps, like the comfortable sound of rain on the ground, stopping all too soon.

Yuuki hadn't realized the difference between the way she could be with Kaname and the way she was with Takuma and Hanabusa, until now, where she lacked the contact most important to her. It frightened her horribly, to realize the difference between herself and her friends. To know that she could never truly open up to them, for as much as they were friends, she was prey to them, inevitably.

In this turned world, the differences between the different levels of vampires had been washed out, for the most part. There was no governing of vampires, no politics, no anything that could define who was what. It was about survival and it was about being loyal to each other.

And yet, even these radical changes in the way vampires lived their lives couldn't completely erase what lay so deeply in them that it defined who they were. No matter the world they lived in, every vampire would thirst for a pureblood's blood. It would never change. Through thousands of years, it had been the main defining factor in their culture, combined with purebloods' almost exaggerated levels of power.

Everything was built around these two truths. Their political system, their laws, their government was based around the extremely delicate balance between admiration and desire that purebloods awoke in every vampire around them. The feeling that they were different, divine, untouchable and almighty and yet… inevitably so desiring that only that very same aura of power could prevent the other vampires from attacking, from trying to take what they so badly craved.

Never had Yuuki been more aware of these truths than now, as she sat alone in their apartment, clutching her necklace and crying so desperately behind her dry eyes.

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Kaname sighed in relief when he recognized the building he'd left Zero in. Three hours and yet, he'd only been able to find some bread some hunter had left behind hours earlier. This truly was a dead zone. At least, he'd been able to find something and make it back.

He entered cautiously, afraid to wake Zero up. He was soaking wet as it had started raining while he searched, and since he'd left his jacket behind to serve as Zero's duvet, he'd gotten much wetter and colder than usual. Good thing he had left it behind though, Zero had pulled it up all the way and lay under it, asleep, but shaking. Naturally, these deserted areas had no electricity, and therefore no heath, but worse yet, there were no windows, so the wind had good opportunities to rob away any heath they might otherwise have had.

Kaname leaned down over the bed to check if the hunter was alright and then sat down on the floor, eating about a quarter of the bread he'd managed to salvage. The rest, he saved for later and for Zero. He wished he wasn't so cold and wet, he wished so badly to be able to offer the shaking boy some warmth.

Instead, he kept his distance. Getting Zero wet to go along with his already prominent cold wasn't the best idea. The cold didn't bother Kaname, at least not enough to even register in his head. His body could withstand almost anything, extreme cold and extreme warmth alike, apart from warmth directly from the sun. Although things like being burned or being outside in the sun would hurt him immensely, his body would rebuild itself if it just got time. This cold was nothing.

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The wind blew in through the opening in the side of the building that was once a window, whisking through the room and making Zero shiver. The temperature dropped further, even though it was nearing dawn. The hunter could feel the cold through his clothes, through Kaname's jacket and he gritted his teeth desperately. How could it just get colder and colder _and colder?_ How could it continue getting colder?

He'd woken up because he was cold around twenty minutes prior and his jaw was already getting set tightly from the cramps and shivers running through his body again and again. "Wh-what ti-time is it-t?" he stammered, clinging on to Kaname's jacket as if it was a life-line. Every part of his body was shaking, heaving in spasms that racked through his body.

"Between four and half-past I should think," Kaname answered sternly, his keen hearing easily picking up on the question Zero tried to ask. His knuckles were white and his teeth were grit. The pureblood sat as far from Zero in the small room as possible. He was afraid to even breathe on the hunter, at least until his clothes had dried a little more. From his voice, it was obvious he was pained by how much the cold affected the younger hunter.

Zero tried to nod in understanding, but his shivers made any movement of his head seem like yet another spasm. The early rays of morning sunlight had already penetrated the pitch black that had dominated the room earlier, but Zero's hunter eyes, combined with the way he was shaking, still made it difficult for him to see Kaname's face.

"Zero, is there anything I can do…?" he asked awkwardly as another violent shiver shook the hunter's body. He so desperately wanted to help, but he couldn't think of anything he could give or do that would make the hunter feel warmer. Zero couldn't either, it appeared, as he tried to shake his head, which came off as another shiver.

"I-tis ok-ay," he got out, wryly considering how many of his toes he'd still have when the sun got higher on the sky. Still, he couldn't blame the pureblood. Zero knew he was worried and that he did everything in his power to try and ease it for the hunter. Besides, if Kaname hadn't decided to save him, he would be dead by now.

But _god_, how he froze. Zero couldn't remember he'd ever been this cold before, he could feel it all the way into his bones. _So… damn… cold…_

Kaname couldn't stand watching Zero suffer like that. He wanted so badly to help, but he had no idea what he could do. He cursed this place and it's lack of warmth far away, but it didn't solve their problems. Zero's infection would only get worse if he caught a cold as well, it would weaken his immune system further. It was important that Kaname figured out a way to help… But what?

Perhaps… perhaps if he got rid of his wet clothing it wouldn't be too bad? Surely, their bodies would generate heath?

It was worth the try. Quickly, Kaname got up and started opening his wet shirt, pulling it off together with his pants, shoes and socks. He was about to take off his underwear as well, but figured that he was going to freak Zero enough out as it was and that his underwear wasn't wet enough to really make that much of a difference. When he'd stripped down, he hung the clothes out the window for it to dry properly in the cold morning air.

Zero had observed the pureblood's doings, as best he could with his unclear vision, in confusion. He wasn't exactly sure what the pureblood was plotting and it made him nervous. Truthfully, everything the pureblood did made him nervous. He was expecting the worst every second and whenever the pureblood moved, he was sure that now, the moment where Kaname would drop his mask and do something that would really, really hurt, had come. Then, when Kaname stepped close enough for Zero to catch sight of his naked chest, the hunter pulled back as much as he was able to. "Wh-wh…?" was all he got out through his painfully grit teeth, not even having the ability to speak anymore.

Kaname gave an apologizing sigh. "My clothes are wet. I was thinking… made I could warm you a little…?" he asked awkwardly, not sure how to formulate it as comfortingly as possible. Zero looked scared to say the least, and he tried formulating a response, highly likely a protest, but his quivering lips and shaking jaw allowed for a very limited array of sounds.

Rolling his eyes at the hunter's protests over what would so clearly be a help, Kaname ignored Zero's vague attempts at speaking and simply sat down on the boxes beside him, sliding under his own discarded jacket quickly. "St-s-st…" Zero tried again, but to no avail. He felt cold, even to Kaname's touch, and the pureblood had already made up his mind.

Kaname put an arm around the hunter, rubbing his back soothingly to force the flow of blood to run faster, thereby warming Zero up, and Kaname could feel the stiff, over-used muscles relaxing slightly under his touch. The pureblood was cold and partly wet, but he was still much warmer than Zero and his body naturally generated a lot of heath to help him deal with the cold, a lot more than a human's body in the same situation would.

It was just too tempting to resist. Zero put his frozen hands against the pureblood's warm chest and let his toes stroke down Kaname's leg. It felt too good to have a warm body against his own frozen one, as long as he didn't give too much thought to what kind of body it was. As long as he focused on the warm sensation that chased away the cold wind. Slowly, his shivers got less violent and at long last, they stopped entirely.

Kaname had put his arms completely around Zero, pressing the hunter against his warm chest and stroking his hair gently. Somewhere along the way, the hunter had rested his cheek against the pureblood's chest, and there, it had stayed. As his body slowly relaxed, so did his tension, and he ended up falling asleep shortly after he'd stopped shaking.

Kaname continued stroking the hunter's silvery hair gently, slowly coaxing him to relax and get some much-needed rest. Afraid to wake Zero up, Kaname remained where he was long after the hunter's breathes had gotten slow and steady. Besides, he didn't want Zero to get cold again, now that he finally seemed to have regained some long-lost heath.

_He didn't want to wake Zero up… or that he should get cold again… that was why…_

However, as much as he tried to tell himself that it was the only reason, he knew he couldn't fool himself. He didn't want to get up. Zero in his arms, leaning against his chest… the way he felt so small and delicate in Kaname's arms… he didn't want to let go. An occasional shiver still ran through Zero's body from time to time, giving Kaname a valid reason he could give to the hunter when he awoke. For now, the pureblood just wished to hold Zero a little longer.

However, it wasn't just the sheer fragileness of the hunter's lithe form that kept Kaname's arms around his body.

Kaname grit his teeth hard. He'd been right all along. The feeling in his chest… he was fully aware of it and he knew what it was and why it was there. And although he'd never tried anything like it, he recognized it. It was unforgivable. All he could do to stop it was to keep it to himself, to hide behind false illusions and not voice this feeling.

At first, Kaname'd thought it was something fleeting, that it would go away when he'd taken care of Zero a little, thereby learning how alike he was to all hunters the hard way. On the opposite, he'd been even more mesmerized, dragged even farther down a sinful road in his own mind and how he hated it. How could his desire to lay here with his arms around this total stranger, this hunter who would kill him if the chance ever presented itself, be more powerful than his desire and his duty to stay by his beloved sister's side, to protect her and watch over her?

These last couple of days, Kaname had felt it churning and turning inside of him, but he'd pushed it into a corner of his mind, focusing on the task of helping Zero get better. Now, as he lay and stroked Zero's hair, absent in thought, he knew he couldn't postpone facing his demons any longer. And so, he went head first.

It pained him to realize that he, if he had to be honest to himself, felt more attached to his desire to take care of Zero than he did to his desire to take care of Yuuki. Kaname hated himself for that. How could he? How could he push his sister aside for a hunter? How could he let her down so much?

The most pathetic of it all was… no matter how hard he blamed himself, how much he wished it was all different and he could just leave, go back to Hokkaido to Yuuki, no matter how much he wished he could wish it was Yuuki is his arms now… it was only half-hearted. Because he _wanted_ this, no matter how stupid and how sinful, how _wrong_ it was for him to think this… he couldn't chase this feeling away. For the past days, it had been a tiny splinter in his brain, driving him mad.

It was just too tempting to resist…

Kaname didn't want to. How pathetic he was, but he didn't want to. He wanted to lay here, stroke Zero's hair and take care of him while he slowly recovered. It was unforgivable, he knew it, and yet… the feeling in his chest wasn't unpleasant. It was warm, soothing, like an imaginary warm blanket, holding all his fear, doubt and guilt away. He wished he could shed said blanket, but he didn't have the strength to.

He believed himself to be strong, after all, he'd long lost count of how many hunters he'd killed. In self-defense he'd survived through killing and every attack up until now had ended in the death of the hunter or hunters who'd been after him. That was the only reason he was still alive. It was the only reason any vampire was alive, and he was the strongest of all. His lineage was rare, the most exquisite of all, even better than the other purebloods'.

And yet… to this feeling he was weak. It had already clenched it's iron grip around his heart as he'd been trying to ignore it out of existence. Now it was too late. He was hopelessly trapped by it.

The bitter truth hit Kaname hard, his fear, doubt, guilt, self-hate exploding into a tiny quivering of his mouth, a movement which would have been unforgivable if Zero had been awake. _So horribly weak… _He couldn't let it show. His pureblood instincts reacted naturally to his fear, to his display of weakness and to his tensed state of mind.

Almost by reflex he closed off, keeping his feelings inside of himself. He'd done it before, many times. His heart was all but overflowing with all the things he could never voice, all the things he could never show to anyone. This time would be no different. _Could never let anyone see this, could never let them… him… witness it. Could never expose himself. Had to steel himself. Just had to live with it all inside, like he had with so many things._

And so, by the time Zero's eyes slowly opened, as the first rays of sunlight came in through the ever-open window, Kaname sat leaned against some old boxes on the ground.

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_To be continued…_


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